Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Raises Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 11,118.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,205,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,194,297 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in BCE were worth $31,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its stake in BCE by 9.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after buying an additional 3,024,110 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in BCE by 15.8% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $378,981,000 after buying an additional 2,206,385 shares in the last quarter. Canerector Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 3,152.0% in the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 8,130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,161,000 after buying an additional 7,880,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 77.6% in the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,459,000 after buying an additional 2,792,485 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.74. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.09 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.31. The company has a market capitalization of $22.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.48.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 26.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on BCE. Weiss Ratings raised BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Barrington Research raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One equities research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

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.