Fairscale Capital LLC Invests $76,000 in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in BCE by 3,480.0% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in BCE by 60.0% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.67.

BCE Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $35.04 on Monday. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $34.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.79. The stock has a market cap of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. 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 posted 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 business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.32%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 204.86%.

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.