DRW Securities LLC Makes New $428,000 Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $428,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 28.0% during the second quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,361 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $659,000 after purchasing an additional 4,456 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.3% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 222,092 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,189,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $232,000. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $35.10 on Tuesday. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.13 and a 12 month high of $41.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $32.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.31%. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

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.