Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Grows Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 239.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $28,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in BCE by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in BCE by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 13,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,805 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $33.60 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.24. The company has a market capitalization of $30.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.65.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.738 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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.