BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 81.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,002 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 43,897 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in BCE were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in BCE by 78.6% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 36,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 16,279 shares during the period. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,638 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. Tobam increased its holdings in BCE by 198.0% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 47,816 shares during the period. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its position in BCE by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 50,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,551 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $23.86. 2,282,436 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,432,294. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 198.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $38.14. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $23.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.33.

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, 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, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 2,350.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BCE. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.50.

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.