BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon increased its BCE position by 174% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 325,253 shares valued at approximately $7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 41.46% of BCE.
• Analyst sentiment improved, with TD Securities and Bank of America upgrading BCE to “buy.” The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.
• BCE exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with adjusted EPS of $0.47 versus $0.46 expected, while reporting $4.35 billion in revenue. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, equivalent to a 7.3% annualized yield.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 174.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 325,253 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 206,526 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp's holdings in BCE were worth $6,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of BCE by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec grew its stake in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $797,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,110 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in BCE by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,296,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $436,320,000 after buying an additional 160,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its holdings in BCE by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 8,744,821 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $208,459,000 after buying an additional 511,011 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of BCE from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.25.

BCE Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE BCE opened at $23.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 4.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 0.52. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.87 and a one year high of $26.52. The firm's fifty day moving average is $22.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.88.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

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.

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