Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 7.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 436,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,112 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $11,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of BCE by 735.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 1,642.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares in the last quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $21.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.52. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.00 and a 12-month high of $26.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.48.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Company 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.