BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.6667.

Several research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings raised BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barrington Research raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th.

BCE Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE BCE opened at $23.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $25.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. BCE has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The company has a market capitalization of $22.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.86 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 26.14%.The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.07%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in BCE by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in BCE by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 115,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,535,000 after buying an additional 42,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in BCE by 62.3% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 4,461 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.