Corient Private Wealth LLC Sells 17,751 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Corient Private Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 54.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,751 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BCE. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in BCE by 4.8% in 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 last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,085,000 after buying an additional 584,290 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $9,522,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.67. 4,575,645 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,707,881. The firm has a market cap of $20.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 188.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 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 business's fifty day simple moving average is $23.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.71. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.62 and a 52 week high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.29%. BCE's payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven 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, BCE currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

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.