Guardian Partners Inc. Takes $7.50 Million Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 317,513 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,504,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the third 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. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 165,881 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 78.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,522,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $23.15. 2,380,175 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,693,752. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $21.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 192.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day moving average of $27.16.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.03%. BCE's payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "underweight" rating for the company. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

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.