BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. lessened its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 657,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 134,190 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of BCE worth $15,363,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 99.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,692,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,549,000 after acquiring an additional 845,961 shares in the last quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,429,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the third quarter worth approximately $746,000. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in BCE by 5.7% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 21,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 3.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,319,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $404,701,000 after purchasing an additional 608,264 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $26.29 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $26.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.06.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 26.14%.The company had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. Finally, Barrington Research raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.00.

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.