Jones Financial Companies Lllp Has $6.45 Million Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,383 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 59,795 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp's holdings in BCE were worth $6,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% during 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 in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% in 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 buying an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in BCE by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 66.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,320,000 after purchasing an additional 543,320 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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BCE Price Performance

BCE traded up $0.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $24.78. The stock had a trading volume of 3,419,907 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,239,587. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.35. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 206.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $36.94.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.24%. BCE's payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "underweight" rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE 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.