Sanctuary Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC cut its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 47.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,037 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 15,514 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in BCE by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report 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 on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

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BCE Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.52 on Friday, hitting $25.01. The stock had a trading volume of 2,148,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,208,790. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.35. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $36.94. 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 stock has a market cap of $23.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 208.38, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

About BCE

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.