Farther Finance Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 43.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,128 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $64,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.8% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 7,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in BCE by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in BCE by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in BCE by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in BCE by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 148,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,286,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $22.72 on Friday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $23.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.46. The company has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a PE ratio of 189.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.26%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BCE. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE 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.