BCE (NYSE:BCE) Updates FY24 Earnings Guidance

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $2.99 to $3.15 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.23. The company issued revenue guidance of $24.67 billion to $25.66 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $18.21 billion.

BCE Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of BCE traded up $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $33.60. 2,259,640 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,339,421. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.49. BCE has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.24. The stock has a market cap of $30.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 7.53%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Research analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.738 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.79%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 204.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. CIBC upgraded BCE from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus downgraded BCE from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price 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.