D.A. Davidson & CO. Grows Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in BCE were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,343,000. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $105,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 32.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.93 on Wednesday. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $37.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 199.38, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.80.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,350.00%.

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.