Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Has $32,000 Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2,459.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in BCE by 13.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,034,000 after purchasing an additional 65,230 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in BCE during the first quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 90.8% during the second quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 123,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 58,845 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in BCE by 50.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 21.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 432,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,940,000 after purchasing an additional 77,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

BCE Stock Down 0.2%

BCE opened at $23.81 on Monday. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $33.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.04 and a 200-day moving average of $23.10.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 437.93%.

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.