National Bank Financial Lifts Earnings Estimates for BCE

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Research analysts at National Bank Financial raised their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of BCE in a research report issued on Wednesday, December 18th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now expects that the utilities provider will earn $2.12 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.08. National Bank Financial has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $2.14 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s Q4 2024 earnings at $0.52 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $1.91 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on BCE. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BCE opened at $22.90 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.89 billion, a PE ratio of 327.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. BCE has a 12-month low of $22.51 and a 12-month high of $41.77.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in BCE by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after buying an additional 165,881 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in BCE by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.87%. BCE’s payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

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.