BCE (NYSE:BCE) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Cibc Captl Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. BCE has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $26.01.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Analysts expect that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the first quarter worth about $1,400,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 135,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after acquiring an additional 19,107 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 432,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,940,000 after acquiring an additional 77,763 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of BCE by 13.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,034,000 after purchasing an additional 65,230 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $268,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently 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.