JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,980,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 655,646 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.21% of BCE worth $46,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the second quarter worth about $42,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in BCE by 81.0% in the 3rd quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its stake in shares of BCE by 229.1% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 2,271 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 340.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 1,989 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE BCE opened at $25.67 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.05. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $26.49.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 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.