Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Grows Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 339,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,314 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in BCE were worth $7,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BCE. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in BCE by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 23,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in BCE by 649.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 66,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,529,000 after buying an additional 57,696 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in BCE by 59.2% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $777,000 after acquiring an additional 12,590 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 5,202,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,389,000 after purchasing an additional 567,705 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,101,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,574,000 after acquiring an additional 222,432 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BCE. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $23.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.65 billion, a PE ratio of 80.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $27.44.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.