Scotiabank Issues Pessimistic Estimate for BCE Earnings

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) – Research analysts at Scotiabank dropped their FY2026 earnings estimates for shares of BCE in a research report issued on Thursday, October 22nd. Scotiabank analyst M. Yaghi now anticipates that the utilities provider will earn $1.83 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $1.87. Scotiabank has an “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for BCE’s current full-year earnings is $1.89 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for BCE’s FY2027 earnings at $1.86 EPS.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BCE. Weiss Ratings cut shares of BCE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Bank of America raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Up 4.0%

BCE opened at $20.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.75. BCE has a twelve month low of $18.68 and a twelve month high of $26.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.04, a PEG ratio of 6.02 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of C$0.44 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.77%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,296,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,320,000 after purchasing an additional 160,310 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in BCE by 21.7% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,038,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,011,000 after buying an additional 897,141 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at approximately $107,023,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in BCE by 6.2% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,837,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,097,000 after buying an additional 282,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 0.6% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,610,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,903,000 after buying an additional 15,469 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

About BCE

BCE Inc is a Canadian communications and media company headquartered in Montréal, Québec. Through its Bell Canada operations, the company provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services, including mobile voice and data, high-speed internet, local and long-distance voice, and digital television. Bell serves residential, small-business, enterprise and government customers across Canada.

BCE also operates a media business through Bell Media, which includes television networks, digital platforms, radio stations and related content operations.