BCE (NYSE:BCE) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on BCE. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.25.

BCE Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.29 on Wednesday. BCE has a 52 week low of $20.87 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.51.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.The company had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BCE will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,848,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,794,000 after acquiring an additional 727,860 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,834,000 after acquiring an additional 700,797 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,616,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 501.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 75,198 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 62,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $1,401,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.