Q1 Earnings Forecast for BCE Issued By Cormark (NYSE:BCE)

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Investment analysts at Cormark issued their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of BCE in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 22nd. Cormark analyst D. Mcfadgen anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.42 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share. Cormark also issued estimates for BCE's FY2026 earnings at $2.05 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE traded up $0.21 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.86. The stock had a trading volume of 518,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,797,562. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.04. BCE has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The firm has a market cap of $20.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in BCE by 78.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $9,522,000. Tobam raised its stake in BCE by 198.0% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 47,816 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth about $17,271,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.75%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,291.67%.

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.