WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New Investment in BCE, Inc. $BCE

WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 29,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 75,053 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in BCE by 64.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the second quarter valued at approximately $281,000. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 11.3% in the second quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC grew its holdings in BCE by 1.2% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 60,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $25.75. 436,119 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,456,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.11.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.79 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. 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 6.8%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Barrington Research raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.