BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 478,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 143,813 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.05% of BCE worth $12,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of BCE by 735.3% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in BCE in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 1,642.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on BCE. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.1%

BCE stock opened at $21.32 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.87 and a twelve month high of $26.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.27. The stock has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued 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 business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Research analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

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.