Invesco Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 21.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,405,560 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 423,912 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd.’s holdings in BCE were worth $55,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in BCE by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $9,522,000. Tobam boosted its holdings in BCE by 198.0% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 47,816 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $17,271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $21.23 on Wednesday. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.01 and its 200-day moving average is $25.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 176.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BCE. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

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.