Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 38,092 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,400,000 after purchasing an additional 75,053 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 64.8% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth $407,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 92.9% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 237.0% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 265,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,894,000 after purchasing an additional 186,965 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Barrington Research upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

BCE Trading Up 1.4%

BCE stock opened at $24.57 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.58. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $21.09 and a one year high of $26.52. The stock has a market cap of $22.91 billion, a PE ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 15.39% and a net margin of 26.14%.The company had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.79 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.07%.

Trending Headlines about BCE

Here are the key news stories impacting BCE this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — BCE reported quarterly EPS that topped street estimates and revenue grew year-over-year (~4%). The company highlighted strong margins and ROE, and published its earnings materials and call transcript for investors. BCE Q1 press release
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared — BCE announced a quarterly dividend of $0.4375 per share (annualized yield ?7.1%), payable July 15 to holders of record June 15. A high yield supports income investors and can underpin the share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: Annual Meeting / Board election — Shareholders approved all AGM items and elected the board by wide margins, keeping leadership continuity and removing a governance overhang. BCE announces election of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials posted — BCE made its slide deck and call materials available (useful for analysts and active investors to dig into segment performance and AI/business details cited in coverage). Conference slide deck
• Negative Sentiment: FY26 guidance is mixed and slightly cautious — BCE updated FY26 EPS guidance to $1.79–$1.91 (consensus ~$1.87) and revenue guidance to $17.7–$18.4B (consensus ? $18.1B). The lower end of the ranges sits below Street expectations, which may temper upside despite the quarterly beat.

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.