K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Buys Shares of 209,800 BCE, Inc. $BCE

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 209,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,644,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in BCE by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,034,000 after buying an additional 65,230 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 1st quarter worth $268,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 90.8% during the 2nd quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 123,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 58,845 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew 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 worth $325,559,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783,232 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 432,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,940,000 after purchasing an additional 77,763 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

BCE opened at $22.85 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.18. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $32.48. 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 firm has a market cap of $21.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.78, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. BCE’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.7%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 437.93%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

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.