Zacks Research Downgrades BCE (NYSE:BCE) to Strong Sell

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $21.20 on Monday. BCE has a 12-month low of $20.87 and a 12-month high of $26.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.76 billion, a PE ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BCE will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its position in BCE by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after buying an additional 3,024,110 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,834,000 after acquiring an additional 700,797 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,296,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $436,320,000 after acquiring an additional 160,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in shares of BCE by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 8,744,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,459,000 after acquiring an additional 511,011 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.