DAVENPORT & Co LLC Decreases Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 83.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,381 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 99,309 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $123,877,000 after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in BCE by 130.1% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,200,000 after buying an additional 165,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 78.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $22.88. The stock had a trading volume of 4,074,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,747,780. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. 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 one year low of $21.87 and a one year high of $38.21.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,350.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.50.

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.