Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 33,379 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,379 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in BCE were worth $6,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FIL Ltd grew its position 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 buying an additional 1,992,000 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,834,000 after acquiring an additional 700,797 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in BCE by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,296,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,320,000 after acquiring an additional 160,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its stake in BCE by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 8,744,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $208,459,000 after acquiring an additional 511,011 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on BCE. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $23.46 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.09. BCE, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.87 and a 52-week high of $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.88 billion, a PE ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.51.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.49% and a return on equity of 12.90%. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.5%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.