WINTON GROUP Ltd Makes New $696,000 Investment in BCE, Inc. $BCE

WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 29,762 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $696,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in BCE by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 149,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,494,000 after buying an additional 34,626 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in BCE by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 23,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in BCE by 207.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 36,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 24,900 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in BCE by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 27,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 39.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 18,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 5,197 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Up 0.3%

BCE stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.75. 436,119 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,456,756. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.55 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 26.14%.BCE’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 25.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on BCE. Weiss Ratings upgraded BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, December 28th. BMO Capital Markets raised BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

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.