BCE (NYSE:BCE) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was downgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $21.20 on Monday. BCE has a 1-year low of $20.87 and a 1-year high of $26.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $19.76 billion, a PE ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BCE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 15.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in BCE by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 4,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the period. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 5.1% during the first quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in BCE by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 28,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.