Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Purchases 338,039 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,964,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 338,039 shares during the quarter. BCE comprises 2.1% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned about 0.85% of BCE worth $162,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 99.3% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 1,363 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 1st quarter valued at about $78,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,594 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday, August 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research upgraded BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of BCE from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $21.36 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.68 and a 1-year high of $26.52. The company has a market cap of $19.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.53. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 9.76% and a return on equity of 12.43%. On average, analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.90 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be given a C$0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.2%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.11%.

About BCE

BCE Inc. is a Canadian communications and media company best known for its Bell brand. Through Bell Canada and related businesses, it provides wireless and wireline telecommunications services, including mobile, internet, television and landline phone services to residential and business customers. BCE also operates Bell Media, which produces and distributes television, radio and digital content, including news, entertainment and sports programming. The company traces its roots to the Bell Telephone Company of Canada, established in 1880, and primarily serves customers across Canada.