The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, April 12, edition that Desjardins analyst Jerome Dubreuil has reaffirmed his "hold" recommendation for BCE. The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Dubreuil continues to rank BCE "hold." Mr. Dubreuil cut his share target back by $5 to $50. Analysts on average target the shares at $71.20. Mr. Dubreuil says in a note: "We have reduced our media forecast for the quarter, but note that investors do not generally put as much focus on media operations. We also highlight that we see significant outperformance potential, with the stock trading 40 per cent below our one-year target price of $75." On the telecom sector the Desjardins stockpicker says: "We see no obvious place to hide from industry headwinds in the quarter. While we continue to see challenges in Canadian telecoms going forward, we believe the recent pullback in industry valuations makes it less attractive to be underweight Canadian telecoms post 1Q24 results." The Globe reported on Oct. 27 that National Bank rated BCE "outperform" when it was worth $50.83. The Globe reported on March 11 that Mr. Dubreuil said BCE's high payout of free cash flow limited future distribution increases. The shares were then worth $49.31.