Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Trims Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 82.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $73,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 321.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $33.21 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $34.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.72. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.13 and a 12 month high of $41.77. The firm has a market cap of $30.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 204.86%.

BCE Profile

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.