OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Takes Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp has made a new investment of approximately $2.94 million in BCE, acquiring 128,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock.
• BCE reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46 for the last quarter, missing estimates by $0.06, while revenue fell short of expectations at $4.47 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share, with a high dividend yield of 7.0%, reflecting its current dividend payout ratio of 437.93%.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 128,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,938,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 249,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,787,000 after purchasing an additional 11,746 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 49.0% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 80,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,854,000 after purchasing an additional 26,292 shares during the period. AXA S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,068,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 502.5% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 156,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 130,522 shares during the period. Finally, Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth $559,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Stock Down 0.3%

BCE stock traded down $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $24.46. 2,321,382 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,203,039. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market cap of $22.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $24.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.00. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $36.17.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The business 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 is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 437.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on BCE. Desjardins raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. CIBC reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. National Bankshares reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

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.