BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by Berkeley Capital Partners LLC

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC cut its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 51.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,722 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,384 shares during the quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $708,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of BCE by 735.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 64.8% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its position in shares of BCE by 34.6% during the 2nd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 3,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 92.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $24.38 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.31. BCE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.09 and a 52-week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.02%.

About BCE

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.