BCE (NYSE:BCE) Upgraded to “Buy” at Canaccord Genuity Group

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded BCE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $18.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.03. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $17.58 billion, a PE ratio of 3.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.54. BCE has a 52-week low of $18.68 and a 52-week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 16.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 23.9% during the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 13,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the second quarter valued at $815,000. State Street Corp raised its position in BCE by 5.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 214,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,658,000 after buying an additional 10,204 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its position in BCE by 66.0% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 22,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 8,791 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BCE

BCE Inc, operating primarily under the Bell brand, is a Canadian communications and media company. Its telecommunications operations provide wireless voice and data services, broadband internet, television, home phone, and business communications solutions to consumers, organizations, and government customers across Canada.

Through Bell, the company offers mobile connectivity, fiber and other internet services, digital television, cloud services, cybersecurity, unified communications, and information technology solutions.