Stephens Inc. AR Decreases Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Stephens Inc. AR cut its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 72.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 22,788 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in BCE were worth $200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in shares of BCE by 6.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,070,000 after buying an additional 3,372 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 9.1% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $430,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth $215,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 34.9% in the third quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after acquiring an additional 5,362 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.86 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.63 and a 200-day moving average of $29.36. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.87 and a twelve month high of $38.14.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,283.33%.

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.