Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Has $35,000 Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust decreased its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 75.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,509 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,611 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in BCE were worth $35,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in BCE during the third quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,320,000 after buying an additional 543,320 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at $436,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in BCE by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 105,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,664,000 after acquiring an additional 3,646 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in BCE by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 262,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,124,000 after acquiring an additional 51,661 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.37 on Tuesday. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $21.87 and a one year high of $36.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $23.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.48. The stock has a market cap of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 194.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,283.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.