Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 1,090 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 19.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 239.9% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in BCE by 120,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in BCE by 147.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC raised its stake in BCE by 35.7% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Argus lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $33.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.08. The company has a market capitalization of $30.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.33 and a beta of 0.55. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.82 and a fifty-two week high of $46.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. Research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.738 dividend. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.79%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

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.