PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Sells 14,824 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,824 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 170.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $268,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365,253 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in BCE by 36.1% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,900 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in BCE by 94.4% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,649,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,966,000 after buying an additional 5,171,655 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in BCE by 50.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after buying an additional 4,783,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 13.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,844,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after buying an additional 815,614 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of BCE opened at $23.16 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $23.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.28. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $27.44. The company has a market capitalization of $21.59 billion, a PE ratio of 79.85, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.6%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.00.

About BCE

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.