Addenda Capital Inc. Sells 31,643 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Addenda Capital Inc. reduced its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 463,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,643 shares during the quarter. Addenda Capital Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $11,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 36.8% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 75,053 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in BCE in the second quarter worth about $407,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in BCE by 62.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 11,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 4,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 92.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $24.13 on Thursday. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The firm has a market cap of $22.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 26.14%.The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. BCE’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 26.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BCE. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.67.

About BCE

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.