BCE (BCE) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. This segment also buys and sells local telephone, long distance, and data and other services from or to resellers and other carriers; and operates consumer electronics retail stores. The Bell Media segment provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, streaming services, digital media services, radio broadcasting services, and out-of-home advertising services. BCE Inc. was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $22.90 to $23.42
• 50-Day Range: $23.11 to $33.54
• 52-Week Range: $22.90 to $41.77
• Volume: 5.95 million shs
• Average Volume: 2.56 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $21.13 billion
• P/E Ratio: 330.86
• Dividend Yield: 12.74%
• Price Target: $45.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

BCE Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

BCE scored higher than 58% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 66th out of 91 stocks in the utilities sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

BCE has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.17, and is based on 1 buy rating, 9 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

BCE has been the subject of 6 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: -1.40%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for BCE are expected to decrease by -1.40% in the coming year, from $2.14 to $2.11 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of BCE is 330.86, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 116.80.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of BCE is 330.86, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Utilities sector average P/E ratio of about 94.95.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

BCE has a PEG Ratio of 4.04. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

BCE has a P/B Ratio of 1.69. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.34% of the float of BCE has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

BCE has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 16.1, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in BCE has recently decreased by 7.22%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Leadership

BCE is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 11.58%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

BCE does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of BCE is 4,214.29%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, BCE will have a dividend payout ratio of 139.81% in the coming year. This indicates that BCE may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.34% of the float of BCE has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

BCE has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 16.1, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in BCE has recently decreased by 7.22%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.38

News Sentiment

BCE has a news sentiment score of 0.38. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.68 average news sentiment score of Utilities companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 19 news articles for BCE this week, compared to 10 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

106 people have searched for BCE on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 47% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

155 people have added BCE to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 496% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, BCE insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.15% of the stock of BCE is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

41.46% of the stock of BCE is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

BCE Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have BCE shares performed this year?

BCE's stock was trading at $39.38 at the start of the year. Since then, BCE shares have decreased by 41.2% and is now trading at $23.16.
View the best growth stocks for 2024 here.

How were BCE's earnings last quarter?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August, 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The utilities provider earned $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 0.76% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 17.58%.

Does BCE have any subsidiaries?

BCE subsidiaries include Environics Analytics, Axia NetMedia, Alarm Force Industries, MTS, Cieslok Media Ltd., Q9 Networks, Corus, and more.

Who are BCE's major shareholders?

BCE's top institutional shareholders include National Bank of Canada FI (2.07%), Toronto Dominion Bank (0.86%), Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (0.64%) and CIBC Asset Management Inc (0.60%).

How do I buy shares of BCE?

Shares of BCE stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.
Compare Top Brokerages Here.

What other stocks do shareholders of BCE own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that BCE investors own include Chevron (CVX), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Comcast (CMCSA), Edwards Lifesciences (EW), Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Yum! Brands (YUM).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/01/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 10/15 Dividend: 9/16/2024
• Dividend Payable: 10/15/2024
• Ex-Dividend for 1/15 Dividend: 12/16/2024
• Today: 12/21/2024
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2024
• Dividend Payable: 1/15/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Utilities
• Industry: Telephone communication, except radio
• Sub-Industry: N/A
• Current Symbol: NYSE:BCE
• CUSIP: N/A
• CIK: 718940
• Web: www.bce.ca
• Phone: (888) 932-6666
• Fax: 514-766-5735
• Employees: 45,132
• Year Founded: 1880

Price Target and Rating

• Average Stock Price Target: $45.00
• High Stock Price Target: $54.00
• Low Stock Price Target: $30.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +94.3%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.17
• Research Coverage: 12 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Most Recent Fiscal Year): $0.07
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 330.86
• Forward P/E Ratio: 10.82
• P/E Growth: 4.04
• Net Income: $1.68 billion
• Net Margins: 0.76%
• Pretax Margin: 3.76%
• Return on Equity: 17.58%
• Return on Assets: 3.89%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 2.26
• Current Ratio: 0.62
• Quick Ratio: 0.60

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $24.46 billion
• Price / Sales: 0.86
• Cash Flow: $5.86 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 3.95
• Book Value: $13.72 per share
• Price / Book: 1.69

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 912,283,000
• Free Float: 910,915,000
• Market Cap: $21.13 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.54