BCE (NYSE:BCE) Given New $21.00 Price Target at Barclays

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Barclays from $22.00 to $21.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 8.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on BCE. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Securities raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock traded down $0.26 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $22.94. 1,364,144 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,249,867. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.20. The company has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. BCE has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $28.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in BCE in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 2,459.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.