BCE (NYSE:BCE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

BCE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Securities raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Cibc Captl Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

BCE Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $22.73 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.52. BCE has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $26.01. The company has a market cap of $21.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of BCE by 735.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 2,459.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.