National Bank Financial Reduces Earnings Estimates for BCE

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Equities research analysts at National Bank Financial dropped their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of BCE in a report issued on Thursday, December 12th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.82 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $1.89. National Bank Financial has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $2.14 per share.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $23.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE has a one year low of $23.82 and a one year high of $41.77. The stock has a market cap of $21.78 billion, a PE ratio of 341.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 11,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS bought a new position in BCE in the 2nd quarter worth $298,000. Cypress Capital Group raised its holdings in BCE by 21.8% in the 2nd quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 8,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc raised its holdings in BCE by 133.1% in the 2nd quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 157,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,109,000 after purchasing an additional 90,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tobam increased its stake in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tobam now owns 21,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 8,266 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4,214.29%.

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.