BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by CW Advisors LLC

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. by 55.8%, owning 8,995 shares after selling 11,361 shares, with holdings valued at $206,000.
• BCE reported $0.46 EPS in its latest quarterly earnings, missing the expected $0.52, while revenues were $4.47 billion against a forecast of $5.91 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.75 and a yield of 7.0%.

CW Advisors LLC reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 55.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,361 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Credit Agricole S A lifted its holdings in BCE by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 25,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 7,943 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in BCE by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,034,000 after buying an additional 65,230 shares in the last quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Aviso Financial Inc. now owns 154,829 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,555,000 after buying an additional 6,613 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its holdings in BCE by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 336,856 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,736,000 after buying an additional 34,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 432,946 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,940,000 after buying an additional 77,763 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, CIBC reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded up $0.08 on Wednesday, reaching $24.51. 1,959,609 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,322,272. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.51, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.63. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The business's 50-day moving average is $24.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The business had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. BCE's payout ratio is 437.93%.

BCE 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.