Bayforest Capital Ltd Purchases Shares of 1,895 BCE, Inc. $BCE

Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 20.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 2,671 shares during the period. Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at about $339,000. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 30.4% during the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 83,742 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 19,544 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.7% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 86,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of several research reports. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. TD Securities raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Desjardins raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

BCE Trading Up 2.5%

BCE opened at $24.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.73, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $33.76. 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 50-day moving average of $24.15 and a 200 day moving average of $23.01.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.