BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on BCE shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barrington Research raised shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, January 12th.

BCE Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $25.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $23.97 billion, a PE ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.60. BCE has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $26.49.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 26.14%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.46%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 32,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BCE by 11.1% during 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 during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc raised its position in shares of BCE by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 4,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.