BCE (NYSE:BCE) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by TD Securities

TD Securities lowered shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $24.47 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. BCE has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $25.72 and its 200-day moving average is $24.21.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.07%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in BCE by 36.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 64.8% in 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 during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of BCE by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after buying an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 59.6% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 115,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,535,000 after acquiring an additional 42,985 shares during the period. 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.