BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Sold by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc lessened its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 25.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,957,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 661,359 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned 0.21% of BCE worth $46,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,834,000 after purchasing an additional 700,797 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in BCE by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206,385 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 3,152.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 8,130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,161,000 after purchasing an additional 7,880,000 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,459,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $24.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.50. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.58 and a twelve month high of $26.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.35 and a 200 day moving average of $24.46.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. BCE’s payout ratio is 26.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BCE Company 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.