Raymond James & Associates Sells 46,830 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Raymond James & Associates cut its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,764,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 46,830 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.19% of BCE worth $61,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in BCE during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 121.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% in the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 321.0% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.33.

BCE Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.32. The company had a trading volume of 1,215,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,213,102. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The business's 50 day moving average price is $34.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.72. The stock has a market cap of $30.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, 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.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.