Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. cut its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,620,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,863 shares during the quarter. BCE comprises 1.1% of Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. owned 0.17% of BCE worth $40,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. FIL Ltd grew its position in BCE by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after buying an additional 3,024,110 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,749,000 after buying an additional 2,250,106 shares during the period. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 8,744,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,459,000 after buying an additional 511,011 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $21.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.52. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.87 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.74.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BCE. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.67.

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.