Magnetar Financial LLC Invests $693,000 in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC acquired 30,168 shares of BCE, Inc. valued at approximately $693,000 in the 1st quarter, indicating growing institutional interest in the utilities provider.
• Analysts have varying outlooks on BCE, with one strong buy, two buy ratings, and eight hold ratings, resulting in an average price target of $38.67.
• BCE recently reported Q2 earnings with an EPS of $0.46, missing expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, yielding 7.0% annually.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 30,168 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $693,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of BCE by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter worth about $88,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. Desjardins raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts lowered BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank raised BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Up 0.9%

BCE stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.70. The stock had a trading volume of 2,189,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,062,674. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $23.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.16, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. BCE's payout ratio is presently 437.93%.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.