Desjardins Issues Negative Outlook for BCE Earnings

Key Points

• Desjardins has lowered its Q3 2025 earnings estimate for BCE to $0.47 per share, down from the previous estimate of $0.49, with full-year earnings now projected at $1.91 EPS.
• Multiple analysts have issued mixed ratings for BCE, with consensus support categorized as a "Hold," as four analysts have a sell rating while seven have a hold rating.
• BCE recently disclosed a dividend payout ratio of 488.46% despite a reported net margin of only 1.82% in their last quarterly earnings.

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Analysts at Desjardins reduced their Q3 2025 earnings estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins analyst J. Dubreuil now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.47 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.49. Desjardins has a "Moderate 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 Q4 2025 earnings at $0.45 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.91 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on BCE. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank upgraded BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $24.38. The company had a trading volume of 4,699,715 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,761,427. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.05, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.62. BCE has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.91 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 19.18%. BCE's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share.

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 $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 565.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 488.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WealthCollab LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

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.