Savant Capital LLC Purchases New Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 12,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 23,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in BCE by 10.3% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in BCE by 10.2% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 11,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.0% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BCE shares. CIBC restated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.1%

BCE stock opened at $23.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $27.45. The company has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.54, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $23.38 and a 200-day moving average of $23.27.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 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 period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.78%.

BCE 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.