BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) to Issue $0.70 Quarterly Dividend

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 7th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.6965 per share by the utilities provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th.

BCE has increased its dividend by an average of 4.7% annually over the last three years. BCE has a payout ratio of 143.3% meaning 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 $1.97 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $2.78 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 141.1%.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $22.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE has a twelve month low of $21.87 and a twelve month high of $38.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.74. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 184.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

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.