JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 738,656 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.40% of BCE worth $127,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798,427 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in BCE by 5,036.0% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,042 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in BCE by 12.0% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $23.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $21.15 billion, a PE ratio of 331.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.18 and a twelve month high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.72%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

BCE 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.