V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,254 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. CWM LLC grew its stake in BCE by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in BCE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,372 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 12,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd acquired a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $215,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after purchasing an additional 5,362 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $23.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 198.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $38.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $23.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.33.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.68%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,350.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

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.