TD Asset Management Inc Trims Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

TD Asset Management Inc cut its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,020,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,355 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in BCE were worth $151,165,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in BCE by 36.8% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth $407,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 92.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of BCE by 237.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 265,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,894,000 after purchasing an additional 186,965 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.46 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.42 and a 200 day moving average of $24.09. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.87 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BCE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

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.