BCE (TSE:BCE) Shares Down 7.9% – Should You Sell?

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE)’s stock price was down 7.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as C$40.40 and last traded at C$41.28. Approximately 1,954,820 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 2,922,259 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$44.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BCE from C$48.00 to C$51.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Securities dropped their price objective on BCE from C$51.00 to C$50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Cormark lowered their price target on BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of BCE from C$46.00 to C$47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of BCE from C$53.00 to C$52.00 in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$50.36.

BCE Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of C$46.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 197.43. The company has a market cap of C$36.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported C$0.78 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.80 by C($0.02). BCE had a return on equity of 10.63% and a net margin of 8.75%. The business had revenue of C$6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$6.07 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a $0.998 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.87%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 185.58%.

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.