Intact Investment Management Inc. Buys 584,290 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 42.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 584,290 shares during the quarter. BCE accounts for 1.6% of Intact Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Intact Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.21% of BCE worth $45,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,734,000 after purchasing an additional 168,704 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in BCE by 48.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 237,903 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "underweight" rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,118,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,711,486. 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 has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.87 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.63 and a 200-day moving average of $27.74.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced 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 return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. Research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,291.67%.

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.