BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Stock Position Boosted by Lincluden Management Ltd.

Lincluden Management Ltd. grew its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 17.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,615,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 237,903 shares during the period. BCE accounts for approximately 4.5% of Lincluden Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Lincluden Management Ltd.’s holdings in BCE were worth $37,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $24.03 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 200.28, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.88. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $37.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. As a group, equities analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.59%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,350.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on BCE. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

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.