$BCE

BCE Inc. is selling a 49.9% stake in its TowerCo unit to La Caisse for $2.45B, valuing the unit at $4.91B. BCE will retain 50.1% control, with the deal expected to close in Q1 2027, pending approvals. The sale is part of BCE's strategy to monetize assets and manage leverage.

BCE Inc. announced that 676,765 of its Series T Preferred Shares will switch to a 5.523% annual fixed dividend rate, paid quarterly, starting November 2, 2026. Series S Preferred Shares will continue with a monthly floating dividend based on the prime rate and market price. BCE is Canada's largest communications company.

Analysts made several rating changes: UBS initiated TechnipFMC as buy, Benchmark initiated SoFi as buy with a $25 target, Barclays initiated Linde as overweight, and more. KeyBanc upgraded American Power to overweight, Gordon Haskett upgraded Ollie's to buy, and Barclays upgraded Viking Holdings to overweight with a $102 target. Piper Sandler upgraded VF Corp to overweight, Citi upgraded Galaxy to buy, and Deutsche Bank initiated Wintrust Financial as buy.

Canaccord upgraded BCE to Buy with a C$32.00 price target, citing AI data center growth and undervaluation. BCE trades near 52-week lows at $18.86, with a 6.67% dividend yield. The firm expects C$800M EBITDA by 2028 from data center expansion. BCE reported Q2 2026 earnings beating estimates, with revenue at $6.18B and adjusted EBITDA up 1%. BofA also upgraded BCE to Buy with a $38.00 target.

Canadian analysts show selective optimism, favoring gold miners and energy sectors, while retail and transportation see cautious outlooks. Key updates: Allied Gold (AAUC:CA) maintained Outperform at C$39.00, Aritzia (ATZ:CA) rated Buy at C$180.00, Athabasca Oil (ATH:CA) downgraded to Sell at C$12.00, and Cenovus Energy (CVE:CA) sees mixed target revisions.

BCE stock fell 1.3% to $28.82, hitting a 52-week low of $28.76, as it went ex-dividend and investors reacted to a Bell Canada-Cisco AI partnership announcement. The stock has declined from a 52-week high of $36.25 due to concerns over revenue compression and competition. BCE is sensitive to interest rate expectations, which have weighed on its performance.

Bell Canada (BCE) and Cisco (CSCO) agreed to build AI infrastructure for Canadian organizations. BCE offers a 6.11% dividend yield, is undervalued by 16.6% per GF Value, and has a GF Score of 72. The stock has a P/E ratio of 4.34x, near its 10-year low, with mixed institutional interest.

Bell Canada (BCE) and Cisco (CSCO) have agreed to collaborate on AI infrastructure for Canadian organizations, combining Bell's data centers and networks with Cisco's AI technologies. They aim to support AI workloads for government and regulated industries, with a focus on data sovereignty. The partnership will evaluate Cisco AI PODs and Sovereign Critical Infrastructure alongside Bell's data center capacity.

Insiders at Altus Group (AIF) and BCE (BCE) bought shares, while BMO (BMO) and CGI (GIB.A) insiders sold. BMO's Piyush Agrawal sold 10,073 shares for over $1.2M. CGI's Rakesh Aerath sold 3,226 shares for over $123,000, and Stephanie Mango sold 15,167 shares for over $558,000.

BCE Inc. (TSX: BCE) has faced challenges, including regulatory pressures and high debt, leading to a 40% stock price decline over three years. Q2 results showed revenue up 1.5% to $6.2B, EBITDA up 1% to $2.7B, and free cash flow over $1B. Wireless trends improved, and Ziply's U.S. network expansion gained momentum. Bell Media and AI Fabric segments showed growth. BCE's net debt leverage ratio improved to 3.7 times, with a target of 3.5 by 2027.