XTX Topco Ltd Purchases New Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 104,025 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,411,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares during the period. FIL Ltd increased its stake in BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in BCE by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $106,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240,473 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 114.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,384,000 after purchasing an additional 825,098 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Stock Up 1.8 %

BCE traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $22.02. 2,836,146 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,794,546. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $36.17. The company has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, equities analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.65%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

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.