Cullen Capital Management LLC Invests $107.02 Million in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Cullen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 4,975,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $107,023,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $100,999,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the third 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 boosted its position in shares of BCE by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $408,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,250,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of BCE by 5.6% in 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 in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.88 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.87 and a 1 year high of $26.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.The company had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Bank of America raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.