Citigroup Inc. Trims Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Citigroup Inc. trimmed its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 657,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 134,190 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $15,363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 3.1% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 322,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,147,000 after buying an additional 9,543 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the second quarter valued at about $4,644,000. Finally, Timelo Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the second quarter valued at about $1,108,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $26.29 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $26.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a PE ratio of 5.35 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.06.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 16.30%. The firm had revenue of $4.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. On average, analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.7%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 25.46%.

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.