BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives $29.00 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on BCE. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $23.58 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.38. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $27.27. The company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a net margin of 25.62% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC grew its stake in BCE by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 32,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.0% in the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 23,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 11.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 15.7% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

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.