Northern Trust Corp Grows Stake in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in BCE, Inc. by 13% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 65,230 shares and owning a total of 567,694 shares valued at approximately $13 million.
• BCE reported earnings per share of $0.46 for the latest quarter, falling short of the estimated $0.52, with a net margin of only 1.96% and a revenue of $4.47 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375, leading to an annualized dividend of $1.75 and a yield of 7.1%, with a significant payout ratio of 434.48%.

Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 13.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 567,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 65,230 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.06% of BCE worth $13,034,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at $47,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in BCE by 67.1% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in BCE by 77.2% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BCE shares. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 15th. CIBC restated a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. TD Securities reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 8th. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Down 1.0%

BCE stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.16. The company had a trading volume of 399,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,260,125. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The company has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.00. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. BCE's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 437.93%.

BCE Company 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.