BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.25.

BCE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 20th. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research raised BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 501.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 75,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 62,698 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter worth about $1,616,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 worth $40,570,000 after acquiring an additional 172,955 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in BCE by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,837,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,097,000 after acquiring an additional 282,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in BCE by 535.8% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 532,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,435,000 after acquiring an additional 448,757 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.77, a P/E/G ratio of 6.14 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. BCE has a 12 month low of $20.87 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.82.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BCE will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

About BCE

BCE Inc is a Canadian communications and media company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Through its Bell operations, the company provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services, including mobile voice and data plans, high-speed internet, telephone services, and business communications solutions.

BCE also offers television services, including conventional, satellite, and internet-based television, as well as digital content and streaming products. Its media operations include television networks, specialty channels, digital media properties, and sports and news programming.