Global Assets Advisory LLC Takes $918,000 Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 27,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $918,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 239.9% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the fourth 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. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 147.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of several research reports. Argus lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.25.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $32.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.82 and a one year high of $46.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.13. The company has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. As a group, analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.738 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 201.39%.

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.