Cullen Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Position in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Cullen Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,693,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 696,172 shares during the quarter. BCE comprises about 1.5% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned 0.61% of BCE worth $135,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec lifted its position in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after buying an additional 3,024,110 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,834,000 after buying an additional 700,797 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $378,981,000 after acquiring an additional 2,206,385 shares during the period. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 8,744,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $208,459,000 after acquiring an additional 511,011 shares during the period. Finally, Canerector Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,152.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 8,130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,161,000 after acquiring an additional 7,880,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $24.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.50. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.58 and a 12 month high of $26.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 13.87%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. BCE has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.790-1.910 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.67.

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.