National Bank Financial Comments on BCE Q1 Earnings

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Equities research analysts at National Bank Financial issued their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued on Wednesday, March 26th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.43 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2026 earnings at $1.86 EPS.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.60 and its 200 day moving average is $27.16. The company has a market cap of $21.34 billion, a PE ratio of 192.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in BCE by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,073,000 after buying an additional 411,911 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

About BCE

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.