BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.74

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.738 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th.

BCE has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. BCE has a payout ratio of 126.1% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect BCE to earn $2.34 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 123.9%.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.60. 2,259,640 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,552,301. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $31.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.53.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that BCE will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.