Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 600 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 799 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. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $24.48 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $36.94. The firm has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 203.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

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.