Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Purchases 6,981,281 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 99.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,006,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,981,281 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 1.50% of BCE worth $310,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ lifted its stake in BCE by 2.0% in the first quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 23,843 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.2% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 60,008 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 46,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 19,145 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 11,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Down 0.1%

BCE opened at $23.50 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market cap of $21.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.02, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.62. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $27.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.35.

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BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted 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. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%.The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.4%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. National Bankshares restated an "outperform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $29.00.

Get Our Latest Analysis on BCE

About BCE

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.

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