TD Asset Management Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,904,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 274,067 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc owned about 0.95% of BCE worth $197,087,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,458,000 after buying an additional 6,697,900 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,101,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,574,000 after buying an additional 222,432 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after buying an additional 4,783,232 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 170.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,164,000 after buying an additional 7,365,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 94.4% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,649,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,966,000 after buying an additional 5,171,655 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE:BCE opened at $24.19 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $33.85. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.98.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The business had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 EPS. BCE’s quarterly 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. Analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. BCE’s payout ratio is 437.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BCE. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 8th. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $32.50.

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.