BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Plans Quarterly Dividend of C$0.44

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of C$0.44 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, January 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th.

BCE has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years. BCE has a payout ratio of 66.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect BCE to earn $1.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.26 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.6%.

BCE Trading Up 4.2%

BCE traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,706,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,840,061. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $20.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.50, a PEG ratio of 6.19 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $21.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.39. BCE has a 52-week low of $18.68 and a 52-week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc is a Canadian communications and media company headquartered in Montréal, Québec. Through its Bell Canada operations, the company provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services, including mobile voice and data, high-speed internet, local and long-distance voice, and digital television. Bell serves residential, small-business, enterprise and government customers across Canada.

BCE also operates a media business through Bell Media, which includes television networks, digital platforms, radio stations and related content operations.