What is Scotiabank's Forecast for BCE FY2026 Earnings?

Key Points

• Scotiabank raised its FY2026 EPS forecast for BCE to $1.88 (from $1.86) and maintains an Outperform rating; the market consensus is $1.94 while BCE's guidance is $1.79–$1.91.
• BCE's latest quarter beat EPS expectations ($0.49 vs. $0.45) but missed on revenue—$4.66 billion reported versus $6.55 billion expected—with quarterly revenue down 0.3% year-over-year.
• BCE declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 (annualized $1.75), yielding about 7.4%, payable April 15 to shareholders of record March 16.

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Investment analysts at Scotiabank lifted their FY2026 EPS estimates for BCE in a research note issued on Friday, April 10th. Scotiabank analyst M. Yaghi now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $1.88 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast of $1.86. Scotiabank currently has a "Outperform" rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BCE. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BCE from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Barrington Research raised shares of BCE from an "underperform" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.52 on Tuesday. BCE has a 12 month low of $21.04 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The stock has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 36.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of BCE in the second quarter worth approximately $407,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 92.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of BCE by 237.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 265,861 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,894,000 after purchasing an additional 186,965 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.07%.

About BCE

BCE Inc NYSE: BCE is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.

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