BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Forecasted to Post Q1 2024 Earnings of $0.51 Per Share

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Equities research analysts at Cormark issued their Q1 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for BCE in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, April 18th. Cormark analyst D. Mcfadgen forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.51 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $2.25 per share.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on BCE. Argus cut BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Securities cut BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.00.

BCE Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE BCE traded up $0.38 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,566,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,602,924. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $35.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.81. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $31.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.11%. BCE's payout ratio is 174.56%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,615,000 after buying an additional 109,866 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of BCE by 57.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $88,908,000 after buying an additional 843,626 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in shares of BCE by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,161,000 after buying an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of BCE by 54.2% in the third quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,307,000 after buying an additional 30,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at approximately $603,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.