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

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

BCE Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE BCE traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $34.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,894,251 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,101,363. BCE has a 52-week low of $31.13 and a 52-week high of $42.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.80. The firm has a market cap of $31.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the topic of several recent research reports. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.