Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC Raises Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 400.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,570,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,294,000 after buying an additional 2,857,340 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of BCE by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,007,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,418 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in BCE by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,418,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,200 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in BCE by 57.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,908,000 after purchasing an additional 843,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 39.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,968,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,318,000 after buying an additional 835,871 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. 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 note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $32.90 on Tuesday. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.82 and a 1 year high of $48.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.80.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.02%. BCE’s payout ratio is 174.56%.

BCE 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.