BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Purchased by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,926 shares during the quarter. BCE accounts for about 1.0% of First Bank & Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management SA increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management SA now owns 54,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,419,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 18,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in BCE by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 17,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on BCE in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price target on BCE from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $47.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 7th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a “sector perform overweight” rating to an “outperform overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.84.

BCE Trading Down 0.1 %

BCE traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $40.75. The stock had a trading volume of 397,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,287,545. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.78 and a beta of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.88 and a 1-year high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results 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). BCE had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 9.68%. The firm had revenue of $4.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.55 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.17%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 153.44%.

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.