BCE (TSE:BCE) Given a C$43.50 Price Target at Desjardins

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) has been assigned a C$43.50 target price by research analysts at Desjardins in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Desjardins’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 42.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$33.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of BCE from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a C$37.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.55.

BCE Stock Up 2.1%

BCE stock traded up C$0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting C$30.45. The company had a trading volume of 2,213,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,094,336. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43. BCE has a fifty-two week low of C$29.66 and a fifty-two week high of C$36.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$32.79 and its 200-day moving average is C$33.65. The firm has a market capitalization of C$28.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.29.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 EPS for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 29.69% and a net margin of 26.07%.The business had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts forecast that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, insider Sean Cohan sold 3,645 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.48, for a total value of C$122,034.60. Also, Director Louis Vachon purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$33.39 per share, with a total value of C$500,850.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 75,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$2,504,250. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock worth $376,464 over the last 90 days. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

BCE Company Profile

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.