Brokers Offer Predictions for BCE's Q2 Earnings (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• Desjardins has increased its Q2 2025 earnings estimate for BCE to $0.49 per share, reflecting a slight upward adjustment from a previous forecast of $0.48, and maintains a "Moderate Buy" rating on the stock.
• BCE recently reported Q2 earnings of $0.46 per share, missing analyst expectations of $0.51 per share, and noted a return on equity of 19.22% with a net margin of 1.82%.
• The company announced a dividend payment of $0.4375 per share, which suggests an unusually high dividend payout ratio of 488.46%, indicating potential financial strain.

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Equities researchers at Desjardins boosted their Q2 2025 earnings per share estimates for BCE in a research report issued on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins analyst J. Dubreuil now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.49 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.48. Desjardins has a "Buy" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for BCE's FY2026 earnings at $2.01 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.04 EPS.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday. Scotiabank raised BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $24.46. 1,892,121 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,288,740. 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 stock has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.62. BCE has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.04 and a 200 day moving average of $22.80.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 565.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 437.93%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. WealthCollab LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.