BCE, Inc. $BCE is Intact Investment Management Inc.’s 10th Largest Position

Intact Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,120,530 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 79,660 shares during the quarter. BCE comprises approximately 2.2% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Intact Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.33% of BCE worth $72,926,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in BCE by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,400,000 after buying an additional 75,053 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in BCE by 5.8% in the second quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 136,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,033,000 after acquiring an additional 7,519 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 90.8% during the second quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 123,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after acquiring an additional 58,845 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. 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 note on Monday, November 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

BCE Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:BCE opened at $25.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $23.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.75. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $26.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 0.60.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.99%.

BCE Profile

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.