BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. trimmed its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 40.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,926,800 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 3,394,918 shares during the quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. owned about 0.54% of BCE worth $114,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 6.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 14.8% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 60,123 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 4,970 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in BCE by 180.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 47,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,652,000 after buying an additional 30,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in BCE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 148,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on BCE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.25. 1,368,050 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,786,797. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 177.08, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $23.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.80.

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 (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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 13.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

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.