Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $67.46 Million Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Alberta Investment Management Corp lowered its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,704,950 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 288,540 shares during the quarter. BCE comprises about 0.6% of Alberta Investment Management Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned 0.19% of BCE worth $67,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in BCE in the third quarter worth $401,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in BCE by 63.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 50,324 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 19,615 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in BCE in the third quarter valued at about $473,000. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the third quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 8.6% in the third quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 54,822 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,093,000 after acquiring an additional 4,335 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC upgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,875,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,643,168. The firm has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.40 and a beta of 0.55. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $46.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.37 and a 200-day moving average of $36.88.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. Research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.738 dividend. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

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.

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