BCE (TSX:BCE) shareholders have had a rough couple of years watching the dividend stock lose more than half its value from 2022 highs. The telecom giant slashed its dividend payout back in May 2025, a move that still stings for longtime income investors.
But BCE’s most recent earnings call, investor conference appearance, and annual shareholder meeting offered fresh clues about where the current dividend, which yields 5.4%, stands.
Here’s what income investors need to know about BCE stock right now.
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BCE stock price still reflects the 2025 dividend cut
The dividend cut a year ago was the headline event that continues to shape how the market views BCE stock.
At the company’s May 2026 annual meeting, one shareholder didn’t hold back, telling the board that BCE’s share price has been flat for 18 months and sits at roughly half its 2022 level, trailing every peer.
CEO Mirko Bibic pushed back by pointing to the timing.
The company’s new strategy, unveiled in February 2025 and detailed further at its October Investor Day, remains a work in progress. He argued the market hasn’t fully priced in progress across fibre, wireless, AI data centres, and Bell Media.
Board chair Louis Vachon backed that up with a personal note. He told shareholders he has been buying BCE shares over the past year because he believes in how management is executing outlined strategies.
Bibic confirmed that BCE plans to return roughly $5 billion to shareholders through dividends over three years. Basically, the company intends to hold the dividend at its current level for at least the next three years.
The commitment is tied to a broader three-part capital allocation plan that management has repeated across every recent appearance: strengthen the balance sheet, fund growth investments like fibre and AI data centres, and then return capital through a sustainable dividend.
BCE dividend backed by falling debt and rising cash flow
BCE’s second-quarter numbers support that stability case.
- Net debt leverage improved to approximately 3.7 times, down about 0.1 times since the fourth quarter of 2025.
- Management reiterated its target of hitting 3.5 times leverage by the end of 2027, a goal CFO Curtis Millen has called non-negotiable across multiple appearances this year.
- BCE generated more than $1 billion of free cash flow in the second quarter, and while that figure was down year over year because of higher capital spending tied to Ziply Fiber and Bell AI Fabric, the company says it’s tracking in line with full-year guidance.
- BCE also reconfirmed all of its 2026 financial targets on the call, signaling that nothing about the growth plan is forcing management to reconsider the payout.
The pending sale of BCE’s land mobile radio business is also expected to help chip away at debt further, giving the balance sheet another assist heading into 2027.
Perhaps the most telling comment came from Curtis Millen at the JPMorgan technology conference in May, where he laid out how growth investing and deleveraging can coexist without threatening shareholder returns.
“The good news is that there actually is tension here because we do have significant growth opportunities,” Millen said. “But ultimately, look, we drew a line in the sand, we should be deleveraging, we will be deleveraging 3.5x by 2027, we’re going to hit that target.”
That’s about as close as management has come to telling investors the dividend is safe, provided it meets the leverage target on schedule.
My take on BCE stock
BCE stock is not a screaming buy right now. The dividend looks stable for the next three years, and the debt picture continues to improve.
But investors shouldn’t expect a raise soon, and the stock’s depressed price reflects skepticism about execution on fibre, AI data centres, and Ziply that still needs to play out over the next 18 to 24 months.
For income-focused investors willing to be patient, BCE offers a defensible yield backed by a clearer capital allocation plan than it’s had in years.
Just don’t buy it expecting the growth story to show up in the share price overnight.
