1832 Asset Management L.P. Sells 2,948,097 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

1832 Asset Management L.P. lessened its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,661,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,948,097 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 0.51% of BCE worth $150,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter worth $1,183,000. &PARTNERS bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the second quarter worth $298,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of BCE by 32.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,983,000 after acquiring an additional 212,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of BCE by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $35.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.81. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.13 and a 12 month high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.