Mufg Securities Canada LTD. Boosts Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Mufg Securities Canada LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 72.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,393,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 583,366 shares during the period. BCE comprises approximately 1.2% of Mufg Securities Canada LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. owned about 0.15% of BCE worth $32,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.9% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 220,709 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,686,000 after acquiring an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in BCE by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 7,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $22.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $20.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.83, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.22. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.87 and a 12 month high of $36.17. 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 (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. Research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

About BCE

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.