Axa S.A. Decreases Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Axa S.A. decreased its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 53.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 43,890 shares during the quarter. Axa S.A.’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,224,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in BCE by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 85,449 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,381,000 after purchasing an additional 8,921 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in BCE by 268.8% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $386,000 after buying an additional 7,143 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 22.5% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 9,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,284,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,736,000 after buying an additional 2,708,625 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $34.84 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.75 and its 200 day moving average is $33.76. The company has a market cap of $31.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.37%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on BCE. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

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.