Griffin Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 13,047 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings 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 worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,271,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 0.7 %

BCE stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.72. 3,117,513 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,350,217. 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 stock's 50 day simple moving average is $24.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.21. The company has a market capitalization of $21.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 338.89, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $41.11.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a boost from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,028.57%.

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.