Zacks Research Has Bearish Forecast for BCE FY2025 Earnings

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Equities research analysts at Zacks Research dropped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for BCE in a research note issued on Thursday, May 29th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.98 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $2.00. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for BCE's Q4 2025 earnings at $0.47 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.44 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.46 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.47 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.46 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $1.83 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $0.45 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $1.81 EPS.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank upgraded BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

BCE traded down $0.33 on Monday, reaching $21.96. 2,751,320 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,332,689. BCE has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $36.17. The stock has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a PE ratio of 182.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $21.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.35.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in BCE by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $579,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,101,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $369,574,000 after purchasing an additional 222,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of BCE by 50.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $325,559,000 after buying an additional 4,783,232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

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.