National Bank Financial Raises Earnings Estimates for BCE

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Equities researchers at National Bank Financial increased their FY2025 earnings estimates for BCE in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, June 12th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.06 for the year, up from their previous 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.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BCE. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock traded down $0.20 on Monday, reaching $21.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,818,571 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,013,582. BCE has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $20.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $21.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 1.82%. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 488.46%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 28.2% in the first quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 497,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $11,416,000 after buying an additional 109,400 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 64.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 36.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 170.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $268,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,172 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently 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.