Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. Reduces Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. cut its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,862 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 994 shares during the quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,522,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,271,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 65,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,510,000 after buying an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Addenda Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 697,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,169,000 after buying an additional 39,115 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on BCE shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.24 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 331.93, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.87 and a twelve month high of $41.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.46.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.69%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4,028.57%.

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.