Creative Planning Has $1.82 Million Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 116.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 56,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,125 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 2.6% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 4.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in BCE by 4.7% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 11,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its stake in BCE by 9.2% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.67.

BCE Trading Down 0.5 %

BCE opened at $33.53 on Tuesday. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $41.77. 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 $30.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.75.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio 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.