Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 623.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 1.03% of BCE worth $217,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% during 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 period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have commented on BCE. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.
Read Our Latest Research Report on BCE
BCE Stock Performance
BCE stock traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,836,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,799,480. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.50. The company has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.46, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.
BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.
BCE Cuts Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. BCE's payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.
About BCE
(
Free Report)
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.
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