Scotiabank Weighs in on BCE’s FY2026 Earnings (NYSE:BCE)

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Stock analysts at Scotiabank decreased their FY2026 earnings per share estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, July 7th. Scotiabank analyst M. Yaghi now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $1.80 for the year, down from their prior forecast of $1.93. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.90 per share.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on BCE. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.67.

BCE Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $21.46 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $20.87 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.42. The stock has a market cap of $20.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $100,999,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,024,110 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in BCE by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,749,000 after buying an additional 2,250,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in BCE by 15.8% in 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 buying an additional 2,206,385 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.2%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

About BCE

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.