Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Acquires 292,690 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,338,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 292,690 shares during the period. BCE accounts for approximately 2.9% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $175,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 64.8% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $407,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 92.9% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in BCE by 237.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 265,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,894,000 after purchasing an additional 186,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $24.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.50. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.58 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.25 and a 200-day moving average of $24.50.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.1%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.02%.

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.