Scotiabank Has Pessimistic Opinion of BCE FY2026 Earnings

Key Points

• Scotiabank lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate for BCE to $2.57 from $2.61, well below the $3.11 consensus forecast, while maintaining a “Sector Outperform” rating and a C$36.50 price target.
• BCE recently reported quarterly EPS of C$0.65 on revenue of C$6.18 billion. The stock opened at C$29.10, near the lower end of its 52-week range, and carries significant leverage with a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and a C$37.12 average price target. BCE also offers a quarterly dividend of $0.4375, equivalent to a 6.0% annualized yield.

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Free Report) NYSE: BCE - Investment analysts at Scotiabank dropped their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BCE in a report issued on Thursday, October 22nd. Scotiabank analyst M. Yaghi now expects that the company will post earnings of $2.57 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $2.61. Scotiabank currently has a "Sector Outperform" rating and a $36.50 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $3.11 per share.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$0.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$6.18 billion for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 25.89%.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BCE. Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 target price on shares of BCE and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a C$32.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Scotia raised their target price on BCE from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD raised their target price on BCE from C$37.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$37.12.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at C$29.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$30.60 and a 200-day moving average of C$31.72. The company has a market cap of C$27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06. BCE has a 52 week low of C$26.66 and a 52 week high of C$36.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$30.63 per share, with a total value of C$306,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$3,063,000. This represents a 11.11% increase in their ownership of the stock. Insiders own 0.02% of the company's stock.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.96%.

BCE Company Profile

Bell Media is Canada's leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada's most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada's cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec's fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country's leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.

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