BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lessened its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 39.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,855 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,838 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in BCE were worth $825,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 400.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,570,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,294,000 after buying an additional 2,857,340 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of BCE by 20.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,007,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,418 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in BCE by 83.6% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,418,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,768,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,200 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in BCE by 57.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,908,000 after purchasing an additional 843,626 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 39.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,968,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,318,000 after purchasing an additional 835,871 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $32.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.62. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.742 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 174.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.