BCE Inc. to Post FY2024 Earnings of $2.21 Per Share, National Bank Financial Forecasts (NYSE:BCE)

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Research analysts at National Bank Financial raised their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of BCE in a research report issued on Monday, September 30th. National Bank Financial analyst A. Shine now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.21 per share for the year, up from their previous forecast 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.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.67.

BCE Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $33.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. BCE has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 405,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,110,000 after acquiring an additional 11,006 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,909,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,768,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,622,000 after buying an additional 185,943 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 9,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 210,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,818,000 after buying an additional 9,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.62%. BCE’s payout ratio is 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.