DRW Securities LLC Purchases Shares of 11,487 BCE, Inc. $BCE

Key Points

• DRW Securities LLC acquired 11,487 shares of BCE, Inc., valued at approximately $264,000, during the first quarter, as reported in its 13F filing with the SEC.
• Institutional ownership of BCE is currently at 41.46%, with several other hedge funds also increasing their stakes significantly in the same timeframe.
• BCE reported a missed earnings estimate for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $0.46, below the consensus estimate of $0.52, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4375.

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,487 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in BCE by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 249,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,746 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after buying an additional 26,292 shares during the period. AXA S.A. bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $1,068,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in BCE by 502.5% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 156,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,628,000 after buying an additional 130,522 shares during the period. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $559,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Desjardins raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.67.

BCE Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,189,198 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,937,167. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $24.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.00. The company has a market cap of $23.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.63. 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 released 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 net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. 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. Analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given 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 yield of 7.1%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 437.93%.

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.