RFG Advisory LLC Has $420,000 Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

RFG Advisory LLC trimmed its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 55.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,092 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $420,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in BCE by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 109,866 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $1,183,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in BCE by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,983,000 after purchasing an additional 212,047 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in BCE by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in BCE by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,908,000 after purchasing an additional 843,626 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Up 2.0 %

BCE opened at $33.25 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.82 and a twelve month high of $46.02. The firm has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.738 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 202.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of 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 raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.25.

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.