Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Acquires 2,206,385 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 15.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,206,385 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.74% of BCE worth $378,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in BCE by 27.6% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,627,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,755,000 after purchasing an additional 352,151 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 74.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 624,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,598,000 after purchasing an additional 267,313 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of BCE by 16,698.2% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,740,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,721,000 after purchasing an additional 1,730,605 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 593,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,146,000 after buying an additional 27,397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,319,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $404,701,000 after buying an additional 608,264 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $25.68 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a PE ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.25 and its 200-day moving average is $24.11.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 25.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, December 28th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

BCE Company 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.