BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Buys 165,881 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 130.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in BCE were worth $10,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 60.0% in 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 during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 321.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:BCE opened at $27.03 on Monday. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.45 and a twelve month high of $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.90. The company has a market cap of $24.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 386.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

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.