BCE (TSE:BCE) Given New C$53.00 Price Target at National Bankshares

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price objective lowered by National Bankshares from C$55.00 to C$53.00 in a research note released on Monday, BayStreet.CA reports. National Bankshares currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on BCE. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on BCE from C$57.00 to C$55.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BCE from C$58.00 to C$54.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on BCE from C$59.00 to C$57.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities cut their price target on BCE from C$55.00 to C$51.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on BCE from C$60.00 to C$54.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$55.65.

BCE Trading Down 1.0 %

TSE:BCE opened at C$46.03 on Monday. BCE has a 1-year low of C$45.40 and a 1-year high of C$65.66. The firm has a market capitalization of C$41.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of C$50.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$52.29.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported C$0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.73 by C$0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 10.81% and a net margin of 9.17%. The firm had revenue of C$6.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$6.48 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.0694723 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.998 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.97. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.67%. BCE’s payout ratio is 175.00%.

About BCE

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment offers integrated digital wireless voice and data communication products and services, as well as consumer electronics products.