BCE (NYSE:BCE) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Cibc Captl Mkts

Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.4%

BCE stock opened at $23.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.82 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.42. BCE has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $26.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canerector Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 3,152.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 8,130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,161,000 after acquiring an additional 7,880,000 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 170.7% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365,253 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of BCE by 99.4% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,006,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $310,682,000 after purchasing an additional 6,981,281 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased 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 valued at $243,966,000 after buying an additional 5,171,655 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About BCE

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.