Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) by 4.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,964,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 338,039 shares during the quarter. BCE accounts for approximately 2.1% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $162,507,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth $434,000. Ethic Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 93.6% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 29,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 14,380 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.3% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 221,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,526,000 after purchasing an additional 5,028 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 27.5% during the third 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. Finally, Collaborative Fund Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at about $338,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of BCE from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.50 to $27.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on BCE from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.00.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on BCE
BCE Stock Down 0.7%
Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $21.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.66 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.30. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.68 and a 1 year high of $26.52.
BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 9.76%. Analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.90 earnings per share for the current year.
BCE Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of C$0.44 per share. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 15th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.
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