BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC cut its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 8.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,906 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 7,365,253 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of BCE by 36.1% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec grew its stake in shares of BCE by 94.4% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in BCE by 50.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after buying an additional 4,783,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 13.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,844,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $157,133,000 after buying an additional 815,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Desjardins raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

BCE Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.45 on Thursday. 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 $21.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.88, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.63. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $34.85. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.96.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.