Cwm LLC Sells 152,274 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Cwm LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 96.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,590 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 152,274 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 147.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $33.60 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.82 and a 12-month high of $48.24. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.53. The company has a market capitalization of $30.65 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.738 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.79%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 174.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

BCE Company 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.