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

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.00.

BCE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 32,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 461 shares during the period. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ increased its stake in BCE by 2.0% in the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 23,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in BCE by 11.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 15.7% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 4.3% during the third quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $23.08 on Monday. BCE has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $26.01. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.54. 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 company has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The business had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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, sell-side analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.99%.

About BCE

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.