Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires 43,800 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 200,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 43,800 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BCE. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 81.0% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of BCE by 229.1% during the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 2,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of BCE by 340.0% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research raised shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, January 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $25.77 on Thursday. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.13. The firm has a market cap of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.07%.

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.