AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases New Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 317,193 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,343,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 640.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BCE. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.50.

BCE Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $23.43. 1,997,576 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,544,913. The stock has a market cap of $21.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 195.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.57. 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 50 day moving average of $23.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.19. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $38.14.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.89%. BCE's payout ratio is 2,350.00%.

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.