TD Securities Downgrades BCE (NYSE:BCE) to Hold

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was downgraded by investment analysts at TD Securities from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Finviz reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $25.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.17 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55. BCE has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 26.14%.The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, analysts expect that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its stake in BCE by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,110 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,834,000 after acquiring an additional 700,797 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of BCE by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $378,981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206,385 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.