Investors Purchase High Volume of BCE Put Options (NYSE:BCE)

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 31,237 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 4,215% compared to the average daily volume of 724 put options.

BCE Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of BCE traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $21.20. The stock had a trading volume of 755,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,565,115. BCE has a 52-week low of $20.87 and a 52-week high of $26.52. The firm has a market cap of $19.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.68 and its 200 day moving average is $24.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.3%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $100,999,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth about $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in BCE by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,161,000 after buying an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in BCE by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,749,000 after buying an additional 2,250,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in BCE by 15.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $378,981,000 after buying an additional 2,206,385 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

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.