Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 65.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 866,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,616,050 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.09% of BCE worth $20,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,734,000 after acquiring an additional 168,704 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of BCE by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240,473 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $87,643,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $21.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.80. 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 $19.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

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.