APG Asset Management N.V. Has $12.09 Million Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 71.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 540,158 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 224,788 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned approximately 0.06% of BCE worth $12,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in BCE by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in BCE by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in BCE by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,405,560 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,761,000 after acquiring an additional 423,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its position in BCE by 75.2% in the 4th quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 155,933 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 66,935 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on BCE. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.69. 934,757 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,778,195. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $19.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.75, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $36.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.76.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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.