Probity Advisors Inc. Has $467,000 Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 37.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,045 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the quarter. Probity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 180,623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,009,000 after buying an additional 6,927 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 11.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 74,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 7,926 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 2,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $339,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. TD Securities raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.25 billion, a PE ratio of 82.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.02. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $33.53.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.