BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives $30.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCEGet Free Report) (TSE:BCE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.00.

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th.

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Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter worth $100,999,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in BCE by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,161,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,110 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in BCE by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in BCE by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $21.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.52. BCE has a 1-year low of $20.87 and a 1-year high of $26.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

BCE (NYSE:BCEGet Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

About BCE

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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.

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