BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Pacifica Partners Inc.

Pacifica Partners Inc. reduced its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 27,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 866 shares during the quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in BCE by 3,355.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in BCE by 48.7% in the third 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. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 12.0% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake 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 worth $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $22.56 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a PE ratio of 322.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.07%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,028.57%.

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.