BCE (NYSE:BCE) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.19 EPS

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19, Briefing.com reports. BCE had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 8.39%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. BCE updated its FY 2024 guidance to 2.180-2.300 EPS.

BCE Stock Up 1.2 %

BCE stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.33. 2,894,251 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,101,363. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.80. BCE has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $42.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 202.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.33.

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 two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.