Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Has $28.37 Million Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. decreased its holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,319,114 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 64,107 shares during the quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned approximately 0.14% of BCE worth $28,369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter valued at $107,023,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $100,999,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $91,811,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its holdings in BCE by 9.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $797,161,000 after buying an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in BCE by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,136,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $408,749,000 after buying an additional 2,250,106 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $23.60 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.92. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.87 and a 1-year high of $26.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.83 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.01. BCE had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 25.49%.The company had revenue of $4.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.35 billion. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.798-1.919 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BCE. Weiss Ratings downgraded BCE from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 20th. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.25.

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.