BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.50.

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th.

BCE Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.17 on Friday. BCE has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $28.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.20.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 437.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 170.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365,253 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings 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 during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings 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 during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its stake in BCE by 94.4% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,649,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,966,000 after buying an additional 5,171,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 50.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after buying an additional 4,783,232 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.