Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 518,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 105,879 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned 0.06% of BCE worth $12,344,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of BCE by 735.3% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth $31,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of BCE by 81.0% in the third quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Binnacle Investments Inc grew its stake in shares of BCE by 34.6% in the second quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 3,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Barrington Research upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $23.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.04 and a 1 year high of $26.52. The company has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a PE ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.28.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. BCE had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 15.39%. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.07%.

About BCE

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.