BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Focus Partners Wealth bought a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $294,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 141.8% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 35,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 21,099 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,665,000. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $1,075,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its stake in BCE by 440.7% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 401,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,294,000 after acquiring an additional 326,894 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Down 0.4%

BCE stock opened at $23.14 on Friday. BCE has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $35.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.80, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.BCE’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 434.48%.

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.