Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 114.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,548,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 825,098 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 0.17% of BCE worth $39,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $87,643,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $106,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240,473 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in BCE by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,085,000 after buying an additional 584,290 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE traded up $0.40 on Friday, reaching $22.02. The stock had a trading volume of 2,836,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,794,546. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 183.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.56. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17.

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 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.65%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

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.