Mufg Securities Canada LTD. trimmed its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) by 4.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,319,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 64,107 shares during the quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings in BCE were worth $28,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth about $107,023,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $100,999,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in BCE by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in BCE by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,106 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.25.
BCE Trading Up 0.6%
NYSE:BCE opened at $23.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.51. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.87 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.92.
BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
BCE Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.
BCE Profile
BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.
On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.
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