Twin Tree Management LP Increases Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Key Points

• Twin Tree Management LP increased its holdings in BCE, Inc. by 50.8% in Q1, owning 650,248 shares valued at approximately $14.93 million.
• BCE recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.46 for the quarter, missing estimates by $0.06, with quarterly revenue of $4.47 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4375, equating to an annualized yield of 7.0%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 15th.

Twin Tree Management LP boosted its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 50.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 650,248 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 219,160 shares during the quarter. Twin Tree Management LP owned about 0.07% of BCE worth $14,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in BCE by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 23,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,332 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 11,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. 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. Finally, CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Trading Down 0.1%

BCE stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.51. The company had a trading volume of 917,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,273,011. The firm has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $36.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.99.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during 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%. BCE's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. BCE's payout ratio is 434.48%.

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.