Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 95.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,240,473 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.50% of BCE worth $106,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in BCE by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,006,000 after buying an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 6.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of BCE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 148,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,286,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $569,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
BCE Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:BCE traded up $0.60 on Thursday, hitting $22.42. The stock had a trading volume of 3,109,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,705,431. The company has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 186.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. 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's 50 day moving average price is $23.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.74. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.62 and a twelve month high of $36.17.
BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.
BCE Cuts Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.43%. BCE's payout ratio is 2,291.67%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages have recently commented on BCE. Bank of America lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.
View Our Latest Report on BCE
About BCE
(
Free Report)
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.
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