Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 23.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 478,756 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 143,813 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in BCE were worth $12,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in BCE by 15.7% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 17,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc boosted its position in shares of BCE by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 4,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of BCE by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 28,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $683,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 33,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BCE from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.1%

BCE stock opened at $21.32 on Monday. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.87 and a fifty-two week high of $26.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.74.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The business had revenue of $4.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

BCE Profile

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.