Mackenzie Financial Corp Purchases 155,177 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,020,007 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 155,177 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.22% of BCE worth $44,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 2,459.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in BCE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BCE. Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Up 1.5%

BCE stock opened at $23.54 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $27.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.33. The company has a market cap of $21.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.4%. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.78%.

About BCE

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.