BCE, Inc. $BCE Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,886,101 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,955 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.20% of BCE worth $40,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 6.0% during the first quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 44,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in BCE by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,837,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,097,000 after acquiring an additional 282,287 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in BCE by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 793,416 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,026,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in BCE by 62.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in BCE by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,038,362 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,011,000 after acquiring an additional 897,141 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BCE. Bank of America upgraded BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, July 10th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.25.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.46 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The company has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.51. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.87 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.09.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.The company had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.5%. BCE’s payout ratio is 25.36%.

BCE Company 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.