BCE (TSE:BCE) Upgraded by National Bank Financial to "Strong-Buy" Rating

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE (TSE:BCE - Free Report) NYSE: BCE from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, April 3rd,Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE's FY2025 earnings at $2.78 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on BCE. National Bankshares boosted their target price on shares of BCE from C$35.00 to C$36.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of BCE from C$45.00 to C$41.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on BCE from C$42.00 to C$40.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on BCE from C$33.00 to C$33.50 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on BCE from C$31.00 to C$33.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of C$38.82.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of TSE BCE traded down C$0.76 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting C$28.83. 2,532,937 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,018,606. The company's 50-day moving average price is C$33.27 and its 200-day moving average price is C$36.78. BCE has a 1-year low of C$28.73 and a 1-year high of C$49.13. The stock has a market capitalization of C$26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.72, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 226.73, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.9975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.84%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 1,338.57%.

About BCE

BCE is both a wireless and internet service provider, offering wireless, broadband, television, and landline phone services in Canada. It is one of the big three national wireless carriers, with its roughly 10 million customers constituting about 30% of the market. It is also the ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrierthe legacy telephone provider) throughout much of the eastern half of Canada, including in the most populous Canadian provincesOntario and Quebec.