BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Acquired by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 10.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,886,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 172,955 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in BCE were worth $40,570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in BCE by 735.3% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in BCE in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 1,642.0% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research raised BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, July 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The company has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.09. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.87 and a twelve month high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 25.36%.

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.