Zacks Research Has Bearish Forecast for BCE Q3 Earnings

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research dropped their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of BCE in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, February 25th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will earn $0.51 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.56. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.94 per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on BCE. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $37.33. The company has a market cap of $21.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 194.96, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.72.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in BCE by 7.7% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 73,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,586,000 after buying an additional 5,298 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at $208,000. Lincluden Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,378,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,940,000 after purchasing an additional 88,866 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 66.4% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,320,000 after purchasing an additional 543,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at $436,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,350.00%.

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.