BCE (NYSE:BCE) Cut to “Hold” at National Bank Financial

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BCE. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $46.67.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $34.45 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.76. BCE has a 52-week low of $31.13 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The company has a market capitalization 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.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced 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 the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BCE will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 2.6% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in BCE by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 11,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network increased its position in BCE by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 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.