John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Raises Stake in BCE, Inc. $BCE

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 86.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 233,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 108,184 shares during the quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $5,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in BCE by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 32,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BCE by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the period. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc raised its stake in BCE by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 4,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $23.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.19 billion, a PE ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.55. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.09 and a 1-year high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. BCE’s payout ratio is 26.02%.

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.