BCE (NYSE:BCE) Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

BCE Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.17 on Friday. BCE has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $28.64. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.91, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 170.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365,253 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in BCE by 99.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,006,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $310,682,000 after buying an additional 6,981,281 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in BCE by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,458,000 after buying an additional 6,697,900 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 94.4% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,649,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,966,000 after buying an additional 5,171,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,232 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Company Profile

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.