CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $11.08 Million Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 478,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,170 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.05% of BCE worth $11,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in BCE by 217.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 1,147.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,636,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,797,113. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.24. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.50, 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 results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.86%. BCE's 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.