BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives $28.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.00.

Several research analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in BCE by 1.4% during 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 during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Down 0.6%

BCE stock opened at $25.57 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. BCE has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $26.49.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS 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 16.30%. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.46%.

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.