Purpose Unlimited Inc. Makes New Investment in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Purpose Unlimited Inc. acquired a new stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 350,216 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $8,354,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 11.1% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 15.7% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 17.1% during the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 4,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in BCE by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 28,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.74 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.58 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 25.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on BCE shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

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.