Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,640,322 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,784,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,640,322 shares during the period. BCE accounts for approximately 0.8% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Bank of Nova Scotia owned about 1.80% of BCE worth $372,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in BCE by 36.1% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $579,458,000 after buying an additional 6,697,900 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,101,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,574,000 after acquiring an additional 222,432 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in shares of BCE by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $325,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,232 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in BCE by 99.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,006,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $310,682,000 after acquiring an additional 6,981,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $23.58 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $23.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.40. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $27.27. The company has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.BCE’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Equities analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.40%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

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.