BCE (NYSE:BCE) Raised to Buy at Canaccord Genuity Group

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by Canaccord Genuity Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BCE. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BCE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $18.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $17.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.03. BCE has a 52 week low of $18.68 and a 52 week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in BCE in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its position in BCE by 99.3% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in BCE by 16.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS acquired a new position in BCE during the first quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in BCE by 176.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $110,000 after purchasing an additional 2,937 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About BCE

BCE Inc, operating primarily under the Bell brand, is a Canadian communications and media company. Its telecommunications operations provide wireless voice and data services, broadband internet, television, home phone, and business communications solutions to consumers, organizations, and government customers across Canada.

Through Bell, the company offers mobile connectivity, fiber and other internet services, digital television, cloud services, cybersecurity, unified communications, and information technology solutions.