200,000 Shares in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Acquired by Davis Rea LTD.

Davis Rea LTD. bought a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 200,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,774,000. BCE comprises 2.4% of Davis Rea LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BCE. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 66.4% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,320,000 after acquiring an additional 543,320 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.40 and its 200 day moving average is $28.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.57 billion, a PE ratio of 194.96, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $37.33.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.91%. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,350.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on BCE shares. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.