TD Private Client Wealth LLC Decreases Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

TD Private Client Wealth LLC decreased its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 170.7% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,679,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $268,164,000 after purchasing an additional 7,365,253 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of BCE by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,900 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in shares of BCE by 94.4% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 10,649,978 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $243,966,000 after purchasing an additional 5,171,655 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of BCE by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,559,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,844,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 815,614 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.27 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $35.28. The stock has a market cap of $21.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The business had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. 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. Equities research analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 437.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.50.

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.