BCE FY2025 EPS Estimate Boosted by National Bank Financial

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Analysts at National Bank Financial lifted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for BCE in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, June 12th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.06 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.97. National Bank Financial currently has a “Strong-Buy” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on BCE. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $22.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.83 and a 200-day moving average of $23.01. BCE has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.63, a PEG ratio of 3.72 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a yield of 5.65%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 488.46%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 154.8% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 52,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 31,607 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 108,040.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,407 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $8,233,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,384,000 after purchasing an additional 825,098 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Company Profile

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.