BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Bought by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 27.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 251,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in BCE were worth $6,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 37,579,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $896,398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,000 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in 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. lifted its position in BCE by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in BCE by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,749,000 after buying an additional 2,250,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in BCE by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 8,744,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,459,000 after buying an additional 511,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $21.80 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.43 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.25. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.87 and a 12-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.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. BCE’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.00.

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.