Q1 Earnings Estimate for BCE Issued By Desjardins

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE - Equities research analysts at Desjardins issued their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of BCE in a research note issued on Thursday, February 6th. Desjardins analyst J. Dubreuil anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $0.43 per share for the quarter. The consensus estimate for BCE's current full-year earnings is $2.00 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for BCE's Q2 2025 earnings at $0.50 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.51 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $0.49 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $1.93 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.04 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $2.10 EPS.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.50.

BCE Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of BCE traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $23.61. The company had a trading volume of 2,614,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,667,365. BCE has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $38.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 196.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $23.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.50.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.80%. BCE's payout ratio is currently 2,350.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BCE. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in BCE by 623.9% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in BCE by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $106,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240,473 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.