Amundi Purchases 63,763 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Amundi grew its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 911,231 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,763 shares during the period. Amundi owned about 0.10% of BCE worth $21,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $139,734,000 after acquiring an additional 168,704 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of BCE by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,615,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $37,457,000 after purchasing an additional 237,903 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.22 on Monday, reaching $23.69. The stock had a trading volume of 2,464,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,713,917. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.87 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 197.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The firm's 50-day moving average is $23.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.82.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE's payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

BCE Company 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.