BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Purchased by Bessemer Group Inc.

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. increased its BCE stake by 4.4% in the first quarter, buying 79,642 additional shares and lifting its holdings to 1,898,700 shares worth about $47.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment on BCE is mixed: while some firms upgraded or reiterated positive views, Zacks Research cut the stock to a strong sell, and the overall consensus remains Hold with a $30.00 target price.
• BCE reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its latest quarter, and it recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 8.0%.

Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,898,700 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 79,642 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.20% of BCE worth $47,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in BCE by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,806,619 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,034,000 after buying an additional 65,650 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,848,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $91,794,000 after buying an additional 727,860 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $1,616,000. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $1,401,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. Zacks Research lowered BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on BCE in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, TD Securities raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.00.

BCE Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $21.84 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.35. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.87 and a 1 year high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.81%.

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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