Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 106,428 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 51.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 106,428 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth $262,000. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in BCE by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 5,925 shares during the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 6.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 596 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.15 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 192.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

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.