BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• BCE, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Reduce" from brokerages, with five analysts recommending a sell and only two analysts assigning a buy rating.
• The company's stock opened at $23.33 and has a 12-month target price of $32.50, but it reported lower earnings per share and revenue than analysts' estimates, indicating financial challenges.
• BCE also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, yielding 7.5%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 437.93%.

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE has been assigned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the fifteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.50.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC restated a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in BCE during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in BCE by 2,459.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in BCE in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in BCE in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in BCE in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.63. The company's fifty day moving average price is $24.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. BCE has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $33.85.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 437.93%.

About BCE

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.

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