Dean Investment Associates LLC Sells 32,839 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Dean Investment Associates LLC reduced its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 86,637 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 32,839 shares during the period. Dean Investment Associates LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in BCE by 67.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $57,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.12. The stock had a trading volume of 1,131,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,790,696. The company has a market capitalization of $20.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 184.33, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. 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's 50 day moving average price is $22.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.34.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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, analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.59%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of a number of research reports. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

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.