Savant Capital LLC Makes New $281,000 Investment in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 12,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth $82,000. Timelo Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at about $1,108,000. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at about $4,644,000. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 3.1% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 322,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,147,000 after purchasing an additional 9,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 3.0% in the second quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 65,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. CIBC reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $23.07 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The stock has a market cap of $21.51 billion, a PE ratio of 79.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $27.45.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.6%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 25.78%.

About BCE

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.