Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC Has $5.07 Million Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC lifted its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 64.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 207,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,675 shares during the quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $5,074,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $100,999,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter worth $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,024,110 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in BCE by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,749,000 after acquiring an additional 2,250,106 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in BCE by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $21.84 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.87 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.35. The company has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.69 earnings per share. The business’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, analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.0%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

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.