BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Holdings Raised by Natixis Advisors L.P.

Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 24.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 313,355 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,122 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in BCE were worth $12,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in BCE by 4.5% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 15,198,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $580,173,000 after purchasing an additional 661,255 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,332,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,084,000 after purchasing an additional 294,626 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 20.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,007,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,202,000 after buying an additional 1,893,418 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in BCE by 6.7% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 8,798,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,610,000 after buying an additional 554,804 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in BCE by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,967,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,615,000 after acquiring an additional 362,398 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $33.46 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.24. The company has a market cap of $30.52 billion, a PE ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. Equities analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.738 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.82%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.