Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 55.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,419 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,615,000 after buying an additional 109,866 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,908,000 after buying an additional 843,626 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,161,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,307,000 after buying an additional 30,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth about $603,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $32.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $29.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.82 and a 1 year high of $48.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.84.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. On average, research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.