BCE, Inc. $BCE Stake Boosted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of BCE by 13.0% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 567,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,034,000 after buying an additional 65,230 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the first quarter worth approximately $268,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 90.8% during the second quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 123,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,741,000 after buying an additional 58,845 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the first quarter worth approximately $248,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of BCE by 50.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,559,000 after buying an additional 4,783,232 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Desjardins upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Cibc World Mkts lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $32.50.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.89 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $33.85. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.13 and a 200-day moving average of $22.97. The company has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a PE ratio of 82.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. BCE’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 437.93%.

BCE Profile

BCE Inc, a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers.