BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

BCE Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.29 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.10. BCE has a 12-month low of $20.87 and a 12-month high of $26.52. The firm has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.51.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.The company had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $107,023,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,999,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in shares of BCE by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,106 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Company Profile

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.