LGT Capital Partners LTD, a global alternative investment manager, has increased its holding in BCE Inc.; an esteemed Canadian telecommunications company providing cutting-edge services to residential, business and wholesale customers. In the first quarter of this year, LGT raised its position in BCE by an impressive 39.2%, according to their most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As per the disclosure, LGT now owns 765,540 shares in the utilities provider after adding 215,520 shares during the last quarter. The upsurge takes BCE’s share of LGT Capital`s portfolio to approximately 1.0%; ranking it as LGT’s 29th largest position. At the end of the quarter analyzed by SEC reports, BCE accounted for $34,241,000 or 0.08% in total assets under management for LGT.
BCE Inc.’s services span wireless, wireline, internet and television sectors- delivered seamlessly via three distinct segments- Bell Wireless; Bell Wireline; and Bell Media Group. The Bell Wireless division offers state-of-the-art digital wireless voice and data communication products for mobile devices intertwined with a host of consumer electronics products aiming at providing high-speed broadband TV streaming thru wireless functionality.
Last Friday NYSE:BCE traded down $0.41 during trading on average volume compared with previous levels hitting $44.58 after peaking at $51.11 while slipping occasionally to lows of $39.88 last year.
The market capitalization of BCE currently stands at an impressive $40.67 Billion with earnings per share (EPS) of $2.13 whilst sporting a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of (*audible gasp*) *20.93! Owing to respectable growth opportunities promised by the company aligned with still-moderate debt-equity ratios reportedly hovering around 1:49 combined with current shifting trends from low latency 5G wireless services coupled with AI-driven Smart cities across North America and beyond, analysts are placing BCE on their watchlists based on the firm’s potential to generate a high stream of revenue and profit growth.
BCE has a price-to-earnings-growth ratio (PEG) of 5.71 whereas its beta value was calculated at 0.61, reflecting a low degree of volatility versus Canada’s benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index and the broader North American telecommunications market as a whole.
The company has been seeing rising competition from deep-pocketed tech behemoths notably Amazon.com Inc., who availed themselves in recent weeks of low-frequency band applications from FCC approval processes for testing purposes, signaling potential future moves into joining the lucrative wireless marketspace. However, BCE does not seem too worried and has recently signed strategic agreements with a bevy of firms such as Truvian Labs Inc., affirming its commitment to insulate its business model from emerging competitors while also seeking avenues for more synergistic collaborations.
Although there is no denying that BCE is operating amidst significant industry-wide shifts driven by advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and the Internet of Things rapidly modifying how consumers view staying connected over time; the future could indeed still hold brightest possibilities for this titan in Canadian telecommunications given that today’s competitive business environment mandates firms capable of supporting next-generation technologies need robust risk management strategies aligned with dynamic execution profiles offering timely implementations whilst bearing acquisition costs in a complex operating environment.
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BCE Inc releases latest earnings and sees significant increases in stake from institutional investors
BCE Inc, one of Canada’s foremost communications company, has been the subject of several changes in its financial position by hedge funds and other institutions and has released its latest earnings reports. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in BCE by 4%, owning now 14,196,334 shares at a value of $623,737,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec also increased its stake in BCE massively by 53.5%, now owning 13,375,600 shares valued at $742,107,000 while Vanguard Group Inc raised its ownership percentage to 3.9% owning 13,200,273 shares worth $553,619,000 after purchasing an additional 496,949 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. and Deutsche Bank AG also increased their stakes with additional purchases. Overall hedge funds together possess nearly forty percent of BCE’s stock which is a sizeable share.
Several research firms have downgraded the rating for BCE including StockNews.com from “buy” to hold and Scotiabank from sector outperform to sector perform. A consensus rating for BCE is ‘Hold’ with an average target price for the company of $62.72 as per data from Bloomberg.com.
BCE operates via three segments: Bell Wireless or digital wireless voice and data communication products & services along with consumer electronics goods; Bell Media for content production related activities, and Bell Wireline for cable TV networks, broadband Internet, conventional telephony services.
The quarterly earnings report ending May 4th revealed that BCE had a net margin of 10.85% and a return on equity of 16.13%. Their unsurprising announcement of increasing dividends came next: they will pay a quarterly dividend on July 17th for investors who are shareholders till June 15th at the rate of $0.714, up from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71, raising the annualized basis to $2.86 and an impressive yield of 6.41%.