JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Increases Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 199,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,574 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new position in BCE in the second quarter worth $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 2,459.6% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.56. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $26.01. The company has a market capitalization of $22.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.61.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE 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.