Zacks Research Issues Pessimistic Forecast for BCE Earnings

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Zacks Research dropped their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of BCE in a report released on Wednesday, November 27th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.19 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.20. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $2.14 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for BCE’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.52 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.12 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.53 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.54 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.56 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.16 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on BCE. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $27.03 on Monday. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $26.45 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $31.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market cap of $24.66 billion, a PE ratio of 386.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in BCE by 23.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in BCE by 0.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,932,000 after purchasing an additional 21,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 5.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after buying an additional 186,659 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BCE

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.