BCE Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:BCE)

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 2,937 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 262% compared to the typical daily volume of 812 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BCE. Weiss Ratings raised shares of BCE from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barrington Research raised 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 raised their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One research 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 36.8% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 75,053 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 64.8% during 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. purchased a new stake in BCE in the second quarter valued at $407,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 92.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in BCE by 237.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 265,861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,894,000 after buying an additional 186,965 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.12. The stock had a trading volume of 592,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,353,601. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $22.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.48. BCE has a 52-week low of $21.09 and a 52-week high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BCE will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.02%.

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.