BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Stock Has Average Price Target of $29.25

Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $29.25.

Several brokerages have commented on BCE. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on BCE in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Bank of America upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th.

BCE Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $19.76 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.32. The stock has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. BCE has a 1 year low of $19.73 and a 1 year high of $26.52.

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, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that BCE will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a C$0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.77%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCE. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in BCE by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 13,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 2,519 shares in the last quarter. Andra AP fonden bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $815,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in BCE by 5.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 214,107 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,204 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in BCE by 66.0% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 22,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 8,791 shares during the period. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 17.2% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 28,909 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $622,000 after buying an additional 4,246 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About BCE

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.