Aviva PLC grew its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 317.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 37,327 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC's holdings in BCE were worth $1,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of BCE by 14.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,977 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 3,352 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 60,123 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 4,970 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of BCE by 180.4% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 47,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 30,532 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in BCE by 0.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms recently commented on BCE. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. Finally, National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.00.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BCE
BCE Stock Down 1.6 %
Shares of BCE traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.31. 902,945 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,785,100. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The company's 50 day moving average is $23.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.80. The company has a market capitalization of $19.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 177.57, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.
BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.
BCE Cuts Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.
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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