Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $56.52 Million Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,745,985 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 37,290 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of BCE worth $56,518,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in BCE by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in BCE by 239.9% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in BCE during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in BCE by 3,480.0% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.33.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.01. The stock had a trading volume of 1,311,775 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,254,635. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.13 and a 52 week high of $42.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.05.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 16.88%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.33%. BCE's payout ratio is 200.69%.

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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