Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,640,322 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,784,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,640,322 shares during the quarter. BCE accounts for 0.8% of Bank of Nova Scotia’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in BCE were worth $372,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ raised its stake in shares of BCE by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 23,843 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in BCE by 1.2% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 60,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in BCE by 1.8% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,438 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,028,000 after buying an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in BCE by 5.1% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 19,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 10.2% in the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 11,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.58 on Monday. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $27.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.31 and a 200-day moving average of $23.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 10th. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

BCE Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.