Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,897,980 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 11.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,886,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,897,980 shares during the period. BCE accounts for approximately 0.6% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in BCE were worth $347,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 81.0% during the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 229.1% during the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 2,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares during the period. Finally, Louisbourg Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 53.2% in the third quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 2,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $25.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.21 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.11. BCE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. BCE’s payout ratio is 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.