Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Has $64.45 Million Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,798,427 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC owned approximately 0.20% of BCE worth $64,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 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 last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in BCE by 121.2% in 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. raised its stake 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 worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 321.0% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.33.

BCE Trading Down 1.1 %

BCE traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.79. 1,531,325 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,201,275. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $34.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.71. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.13 and a one year high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.89%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is presently 204.86%.

BCE Company 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.