National Bank Financial Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Equities research analysts at National Bank Financial dropped their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued on Wednesday, June 12th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.22 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.25. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $2.20 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2025 earnings at $2.19 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.25.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $32.89 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a PE ratio of 22.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.55. BCE has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $46.02.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 109,866 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of BCE by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,983,000 after buying an additional 212,047 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of BCE by 57.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,908,000 after buying an additional 843,626 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 24,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 13,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 2,841 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.738 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.98%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 204.86%.

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.