Scotiabank Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for BCE

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Equities research analysts at Scotiabank upped their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for BCE in a report issued on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank analyst M. Yaghi now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $2.01 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.91. Scotiabank has a “Sector Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share.

BCE has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE BCE opened at $23.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.75. The company has a market capitalization of $22.10 billion, a PE ratio of 91.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. BCE has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 1.82%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCE. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of BCE by 623.9% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,573,000 after buying an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 170.7% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,164,000 after buying an additional 7,365,253 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of BCE by 36.1% during the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,458,000 after buying an additional 6,697,900 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in shares of BCE by 94.4% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,649,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,966,000 after buying an additional 5,171,655 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $87,643,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 488.46%.

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.