Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Invests $256,000 in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. acquired a new stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 11,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 95.0% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 43,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $989,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in BCE by 4.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 105,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 11.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 966,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,184,000 after purchasing an additional 100,122 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its holdings in BCE by 137.1% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 175,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,957,000 after purchasing an additional 101,223 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 45,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 15,239 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $28.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.6%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 437.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. CIBC reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

BCE Company Profile

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.