Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Has $987,000 Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 36.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 23,751 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,598,000 after purchasing an additional 267,313 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in BCE by 16,698.2% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,740,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,721,000 after buying an additional 1,730,605 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 3.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,319,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $404,701,000 after buying an additional 608,264 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 77.6% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,459,000 after buying an additional 2,792,485 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,848,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,794,000 after buying an additional 727,860 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $24.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.78 and its 200-day moving average is $24.31. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.09 and a 1 year high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. BCE’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.02%.

About BCE

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.