Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires New Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,032 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $802,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 3,355.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 5,036.0% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,042 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $178,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,488 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,553,000 after purchasing an additional 905,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, reaching $26.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,717,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,205,429. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.43 billion, a PE ratio of 382.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.54. 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 52 week low of $26.45 and a 52 week high of $41.77. The business's 50-day moving average price is $30.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.65.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.01%. This is a positive change from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,228.57%.

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.