Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock Price

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Scotiabank from C$40.25 to C$39.50 in a report issued on Friday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Scotiabank’s target price points to a potential upside of 15.33% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a C$37.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$35.00 to C$47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Desjardins reduced their target price on BCE from C$41.00 to C$40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.85.

BCE Stock Down 2.2%

TSE BCE opened at C$34.25 on Friday. BCE has a 12 month low of C$28.73 and a 12 month high of C$36.59. The company has a market capitalization of C$31.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.14, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$33.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$33.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 226.73, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported C$0.79 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$6.05 billion during the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 1.39% and a net margin of 1.10%. Equities research analysts expect that BCE will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting BCE

Here are the key news stories impacting BCE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: National Bank raised its price target to C$39 and kept an “outperform” rating — a clear buy-side signal that implies meaningful upside from current levels. BayStreet.CA
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lifted its target from C$33 to C$37, signaling improved conviction from a large institutional analyst. BayStreet.CA
• Positive Sentiment: Technical note — shares have crossed above their 200-day moving average, which traders view as a bullish technical development that can attract momentum buyers. AmericanBankingNews
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank trimmed its target slightly to C$39.50 but maintained an “outperform” rating — still positive in absolute terms but a modest pullback from prior optimism. BayStreet.CA
• Neutral Sentiment: Desjardins cut its target to C$40 (from C$41) but left a “buy” call intact; another mixed signal that keeps multi-analyst upside intact despite small haircut. BayStreet.CA TickerReport
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of BCE’s Q4 results and CEO comments emphasizes a focus on premium customers and revenue mix — strategically positive for ARPU but potentially limiting market-share gains if competitors cut prices. WTOP – Q4 Snapshot MSN – CEO comments
• Negative Sentiment: An opinion piece warns investors to wait for a specific trigger before buying BCE, which can sap near-term demand from cautious retail/institutional flows. MSN – Opinion

About BCE

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.