BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by MORGUARD LINCLUDEN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS Ltd

MORGUARD LINCLUDEN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS Ltd cut its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,405,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 39,972 shares during the period. BCE accounts for 3.7% of MORGUARD LINCLUDEN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. MORGUARD LINCLUDEN GLOBAL INVESTMENTS Ltd’s holdings in BCE were worth $28,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of BCE by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,296,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $436,320,000 after purchasing an additional 160,310 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 21.7% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,038,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,011,000 after purchasing an additional 897,141 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the second quarter worth about $107,023,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of BCE by 6.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,837,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,097,000 after buying an additional 282,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 0.6% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 2,610,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,903,000 after buying an additional 15,469 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

BCE Trading Down 0.2%

BCE opened at $20.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.10, a P/E/G ratio of 6.15 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.48. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $18.68 and a one year high of $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business 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. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.89 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of C$0.44 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.7%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.77%.

About BCE

BCE Inc is a Canadian communications and media company headquartered in Montréal, Québec. Through its Bell Canada operations, the company provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services, including mobile voice and data, high-speed internet, local and long-distance voice, and digital television. Bell serves residential, small-business, enterprise and government customers across Canada.

BCE also operates a media business through Bell Media, which includes television networks, digital platforms, radio stations and related content operations.