Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,734 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,951 shares during the quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in BCE by 3,480.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $35.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 100,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,225,543. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.92. The stock has a market cap of $32.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 201.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on BCE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

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.