Amundi Raises Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Amundi increased its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 16.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,063,134 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 151,903 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.12% of BCE worth $24,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of BCE by 13.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,034,000 after acquiring an additional 65,230 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $268,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 108,040.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $124,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,075,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $248,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $24.16. 2,532,210 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,925,060. The company has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 83.30, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.63. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $24.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.02. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.91 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The company's revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. BCE's payout ratio is presently 437.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, CIBC reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.67.

About BCE

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.