National Bank Financial Comments on BCE Inc.’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:BCE)

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Research analysts at National Bank Financial issued their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for shares of BCE in a report issued on Monday, September 30th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.56 for the quarter. National Bank Financial currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $2.20 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2025 earnings at $2.23 EPS.

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

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $34.45 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.76. The stock has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. BCE has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BCE. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in BCE by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 85,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 8,921 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in BCE by 268.8% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 7,143 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,764 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,284,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,736,000 after purchasing an additional 2,708,625 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in BCE by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,253,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $49,342,000 after purchasing an additional 64,391 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

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.