Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,518,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 51,127 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.28% of BCE worth $81,530,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 15.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 482,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 65,899 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 166.1% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,156 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 5.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after purchasing an additional 186,659 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 36.0% in the second quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 15,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 4,067 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 3.2% in the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 145,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,721,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $34.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.81. The stock has a market cap of $31.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.45%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

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.