K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Has $5.98 Million Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 257,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,756 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in BCE were worth $5,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 75,053 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in BCE by 3.1% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 322,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,147,000 after purchasing an additional 9,543 shares in the last quarter. Timelo Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in BCE in the second quarter valued at $1,108,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the second quarter valued at about $82,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, January 12th. Barrington Research raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. One investment 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.00.

BCE Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $25.63 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.61 and its 200 day moving average is $24.04. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $26.49. The stock has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.22 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 1.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 26.14%.The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.46%.

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.