Gabelli Funds LLC Cuts Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Gabelli Funds LLC decreased its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 828,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC owned about 0.09% of BCE worth $26,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 84.1% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Six equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $35.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

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.