BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $29.25 According to Analysts

Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.25.

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Bank of America upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on BCE in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, July 10th.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $19.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.30. BCE has a 1 year low of $19.73 and a 1 year high of $26.52. The stock has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of C$0.44 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.77%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in BCE in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of BCE by 99.3% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares in the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS acquired a new position in BCE in the 1st quarter valued at $78,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 176.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 4,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 2,937 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc, operating primarily under the Bell brand, is a Canadian communications and media company. Its telecommunications operations provide wireless voice and data services, broadband internet, television, home phone, and business communications solutions to consumers, organizations, and government customers across Canada.

Through Bell, the company offers mobile connectivity, fiber and other internet services, digital television, cloud services, cybersecurity, unified communications, and information technology solutions.