CIBC Asset Management Inc Grows Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,061,488 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc owned about 0.61% of BCE worth $178,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in BCE by 3,480.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.33.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BCE traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $35.00. 1,311,900 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,254,636. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.13 and a 52 week high of $42.96. The company has a market cap of $31.93 billion, a PE ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.99.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 201.39%.

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.