Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Boosts Stake in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services massively increased its stake in BCE in Q3 — up 16,698.2% after buying ~1.73 million shares, bringing its holding to 1,740,969 shares worth about $40.7 million (≈0.19% of the company).
• BCE beat Q3 EPS expectations ($0.57 vs. $0.52) with revenue of $4.34 billion (up 1.3% YoY), set FY2025 guidance of 1.91–1.98 EPS, and pays a hefty quarterly dividend that equates to a 7.1% yield ($1.75 annual; DPR ~26%).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: the consensus is a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $29, but ratings range from upgrades (Scotiabank, BMO, TD) to sell/underweight calls (Weiss, Barclays).

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 16,698.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,740,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,730,605 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.19% of BCE worth $40,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BCE by 26.5% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,243 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $473,000 after purchasing an additional 4,246 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 144,786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,384,000 after buying an additional 8,021 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of BCE by 94.9% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,708 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $180,000 after buying an additional 3,753 shares in the last quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,822 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in BCE by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 6,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $24.51 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.09 and a beta of 0.60. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $26.01. The company's 50-day moving average price is $23.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a net margin of 25.62% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. BCE's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCE. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Company Profile

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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