FY2024 Earnings Forecast for BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Issued By National Bank Financial

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Investment analysts at National Bank Financial upped their FY2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued on Monday, September 30th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.21 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.17. National Bank Financial has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $2.20 per share.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on BCE. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.67.

BCE Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE BCE opened at $34.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.76. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in BCE during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in BCE by 3,480.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 204.86%.

BCE Company Profile

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.