Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,634 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,634 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $57,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,666,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $105,036,000 after acquiring an additional 122,913 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 366,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,485,000 after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 4,266 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (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. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

BCE Trading Up 1.2 %

BCE stock opened at $32.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The business’s fifty day moving average is $35.04 and its 200 day moving average is $37.81. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.82 and a one year high of $48.38.

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

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.11%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.56%.

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.