TD Asset Management Inc Cuts Stake in BCE, Inc. $BCE

TD Asset Management Inc lessened its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,020,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,355 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned 0.75% of BCE worth $151,165,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 36.8% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 278,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,400,000 after acquiring an additional 75,053 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the second quarter worth approximately $407,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 92.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after acquiring an additional 2,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of BCE by 237.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Bank of America raised BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.50 to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.25.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.46 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.87 and a one year high of $26.52. The company has a market cap of $21.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.80 and a beta of 0.51. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.09.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

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

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.