BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Stake Reduced by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP decreased its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 72.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 130,784 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,601,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the first quarter worth $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% in the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the second quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $33.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $30.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.41, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.76.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 8.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

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.