BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Rating Lowered by National Bank Financial

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was downgraded by National Bank Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks.com reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2024 earnings at $2.21 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

BCE Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $34.84 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $31.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. BCE has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.76.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 2.8% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 405,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,110,000 after buying an additional 11,006 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,909,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in BCE by 7.2% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,768,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,622,000 after acquiring an additional 185,943 shares during the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 11.8% in the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 9,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of BCE by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 210,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,818,000 after purchasing an additional 9,954 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.