BCE, Inc. $BCE Stake Lessened by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

by · The Markets Daily

Griffin Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 766 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $446,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hilltop National Bank bought a new position in shares of BCE in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in shares of BCE in the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,096 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 1.9%

BCE stock opened at $23.89 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.97. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $33.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The firm had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 437.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 8th. National Bankshares restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, CIBC restated a “neutral” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $32.50.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BCE

About BCE

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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