BCE (NYSE:BCE) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on BCE. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Securities raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.61. BCE has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $26.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 28.0% during the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 200,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,674,000 after acquiring an additional 43,800 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in BCE by 735.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at $96,000. Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth $5,044,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of BCE by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 464,417 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,775,000 after buying an additional 5,803 shares in the last quarter. 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.