BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) – Investment analysts at Scotiabank upped their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued on Wednesday, August 19th. Scotiabank analyst M. Yaghi now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.90 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.80. Scotiabank currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.87 per share.
A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.
BCE Stock Down 1.2%
Shares of BCE opened at $23.57 on Monday. BCE has a 1 year low of $20.87 and a 1 year high of $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.98. The firm has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.51.
BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.The business had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,848,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $91,794,000 after purchasing an additional 727,860 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in BCE by 501.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 75,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 62,698 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth about $1,616,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in BCE by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,886,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,570,000 after acquiring an additional 172,955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.
BCE Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.
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.
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