BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Stock Holdings Reduced by JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd cut its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 208,669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 14,182 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in BCE by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $22.70 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.31. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 189.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.