BCE (BCE) to Release Earnings on Thursday

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results 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 that are interested in registering for the company’s earnings conference call can do so using this link.

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

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $32.85 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. BCE has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.742 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.04%. BCE’s payout ratio is 174.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BCE. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.