SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 16,640 BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 16,640 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $386,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $208,000. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the third quarter valued at approximately $436,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in BCE by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 105,149 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,664,000 after acquiring an additional 3,646 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in BCE by 24.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 262,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $9,124,000 after purchasing an additional 51,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at $398,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

Remove Ads

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $24.78. The stock had a trading volume of 3,419,909 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,239,732. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $21.87 and a one year high of $36.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 206.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. As a group, analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.24%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

BCE Profile

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.