Rempart Asset Management Inc. Has $1.07 Million Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Rempart Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 44.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,467 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,037 shares during the period. Rempart Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its stake in BCE by 6.1% during the second quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 5,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 30,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,407,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. increased its position in BCE by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 117,539 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,363,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC increased its position in BCE by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 368,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,778,000 after purchasing an additional 23,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in BCE by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 110,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,053,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. 42.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of BCE from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 21st. TheStreet downgraded BCE from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 7th. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a “sector perform overweight” rating to an “outperform overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.84.

BCE Trading Down 0.5 %

BCE stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,786,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,292,710. The stock has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.25 and a 200-day moving average of $44.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $39.88 and a one year high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.60 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.55 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 9.68%. Research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.16%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 154.50%.

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 three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment offers integrated digital wireless voice and data communication products and services, as well as consumer electronics products.