BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,141,172 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 95,390 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 0.34% of BCE worth $74,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in BCE by 735.3% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 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 worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Binnacle Investments Inc lifted its position in BCE by 34.6% in the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 3,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in BCE by 92.9% in the second 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. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCE. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $24.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 4.92 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.49. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.58 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.02%.

About BCE

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.