CIBC Asset Management Inc Cuts Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. $BCE

CIBC Asset Management Inc reduced its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 25.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,957,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 661,359 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in BCE were worth $46,731,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in BCE by 52.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 28,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $670,000 after buying an additional 9,683 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,811,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 143.1% in the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 15,555 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,955,684 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,584,000 after purchasing an additional 171,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday, May 29th. TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $24.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.84 billion, a PE ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.50. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $26.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 13.87% and a net margin of 25.66%.The business’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.1%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.02%.

BCE Company 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.