BCE (BCE) to Release Earnings on Thursday

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) will release its earnings data before the market opens on Thursday, May 2nd. Analysts expect BCE to post earnings of $0.60 per share for the quarter. BCE has set its FY24 guidance at $2.99-3.15 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 2.190-2.310 EPS.Persons interested in listening to the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. On average, analysts expect BCE to post $2 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $32.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. BCE has a one year low of $31.82 and a one year high of $48.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $34.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

BCE Company Profile

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.