Fiera Capital Corp Has $9.12 Million Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Fiera Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 24.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 262,088 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 51,661 shares during the quarter. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in BCE were worth $9,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in BCE by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $500,376,000 after acquiring an additional 80,879 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 12.0% in the 2nd 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. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $178,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,488 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $163,932,000 after purchasing an additional 21,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $115,379,000 after purchasing an additional 186,659 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BCE. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday. National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine 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 an average price target of $46.33.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE traded up $0.30 on Friday, reaching $28.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,007,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,586,859. The firm has a market cap of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.59. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.57. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.29 and a 52 week high of $41.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

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 paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.39%. This is a boost from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 186.16%.

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.