Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Invests $253,000 in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 7,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $500,376,000 after buying an additional 80,879 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in BCE by 12.0% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in BCE by 23.8% in the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in BCE by 0.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,932,000 after buying an additional 21,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 5.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after buying an additional 186,659 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $32.47 on Wednesday. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.13 and a 12 month 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 company has a market capitalization of $29.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.42, a P/E/G ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.73.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.729 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.98%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 185.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. 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 research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.33.

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.