BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance lessened its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 29,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 886 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 120,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 147.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $32.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.92. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.82 and a 12-month high of $48.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. Equities analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.21%. BCE’s payout ratio is 174.56%.

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.