Godsey & Gibb Inc. Acquires 26,106 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. raised its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 554,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 26,106 shares during the quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. owned 0.06% of BCE worth $19,280,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 321.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Trading Down 0.4 %

BCE traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $33.40. 1,526,440 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,218,017. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $41.77. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $34.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 204.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of several recent research reports. National Bank Financial downgraded BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.33.

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.