Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 31,112 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 436,333 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,112 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $11,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of BCE by 145.7% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 64,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 38,523 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the first quarter worth approximately $215,000. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC boosted its stake in BCE by 6.8% in the first quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 63,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,605,000 after buying an additional 4,049 shares in the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in BCE by 52.5% during the first quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 8,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,354,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, May 29th. TD Securities raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $21.41 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.88 and a 200 day moving average of $24.48. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.00 and a 52 week high of $26.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.52.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

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 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 8.2%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 25.81%.

BCE 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.