Desjardins Issues Pessimistic Outlook for BCE Earnings

Key Points

• Desjardins has revised its Q3 2025 earnings per share estimate for BCE to $0.65, down from a previous forecast of $0.68, while maintaining a "Buy" rating and a price target of $40.00.
• BCE's recent quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share reflects a 5.4% annual yield, although the company's dividend payout ratio is notably high at 1,338.57%.
• Consensus estimates indicate BCE's full-year earnings for 2023 are projected to be $3.11 per share, while various brokerages have mixed ratings and price targets ranging from C$29.00 to C$39.00.

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Free Report) NYSE: BCE - Analysts at Desjardins decreased their Q3 2025 EPS estimates for BCE in a research note issued on Tuesday, August 5th. Desjardins analyst J. Dubreuil now expects that the company will post earnings of $0.65 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.68. Desjardins has a "Moderate Buy" rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $3.11 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for BCE's Q4 2025 earnings at $0.62 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.62 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $2.76 EPS.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BCE. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of BCE from C$37.00 to C$35.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. CIBC reduced their price objective on BCE from C$52.00 to C$33.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating and set a C$39.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. National Bankshares set a C$35.00 price target on BCE and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on BCE from C$33.00 to C$35.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of C$34.38.

BCE Stock Performance

TSE:BCE traded up C$0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting C$33.51. 4,557,885 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,828,642. The stock's fifty day moving average price is C$31.54 and its 200-day moving average price is C$31.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 226.73. BCE has a one year low of C$28.73 and a one year high of C$49.13. The firm has a market cap of C$30.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 112.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 1,338.57%.

BCE Company Profile

BCE is both a wireless and internet service provider, offering wireless, broadband, television, and landline phone services in Canada. It is one of the big three national wireless carriers, with its roughly 10 million customers constituting about 30% of the market. It is also the ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrierthe legacy telephone provider) throughout much of the eastern half of Canada, including in the most populous Canadian provincesOntario and Quebec.