Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Takes Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 20,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in BCE by 121.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in BCE by 321.0% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in BCE in the third quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at about $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BCE. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.52. The stock had a trading volume of 5,665,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,479,411. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.40. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.24 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 364.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.737 dividend. This is a boost from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.55%. BCE's payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

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.