BCE (TSE:BCE) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. Canaccord Genuity Group now has a C$41.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of C$51.00. BCE traded as low as C$39.69 and last traded at C$40.86, with a volume of 5489758 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$40.47.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on BCE. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$52.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from C$48.00 to C$46.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cormark lowered their price objective on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of BCE from C$50.50 to C$47.50 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$47.23.

BCE Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43. The stock has a market cap of C$36.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$46.60.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a $0.998 dividend. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.01%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 185.58%.

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.