Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Acquires 1,230 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 19.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in BCE were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd 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. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

BCE Stock Down 0.6 %

BCE stock opened at $33.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.75. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $41.77.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.75%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.