BCE (NYSE:BCE) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at National Bank Financial

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2025 earnings at $1.95 EPS.

BCE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

BCE stock opened at $22.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE has a 1-year low of $21.62 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.25%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCE. FIL Ltd increased its stake in BCE by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of BCE by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in BCE by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.