BCE (NYSE:BCE) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cibc Captl Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.08 on Friday. BCE has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $26.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,627,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,755,000 after purchasing an additional 352,151 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,181,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new stake in BCE during the second quarter worth $4,644,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in BCE by 13.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,034,000 after buying an additional 65,230 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the first quarter valued at $268,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.