National Bank Financial Raises Earnings Estimates for BCE

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – National Bank Financial increased their FY2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for BCE in a research note issued to investors on Monday, March 10th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now expects that the utilities provider will earn $1.77 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $1.68. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on BCE. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Down 1.6 %

BCE stock opened at $24.38 on Wednesday. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 203.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in BCE by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in BCE by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,262,000 after buying an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in BCE by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,796,000 after buying an additional 1,814,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,073,000 after buying an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.