Sei Investments Co. Trims Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Sei Investments Co. decreased its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,277 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,741 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $139,734,000 after acquiring an additional 168,704 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,085,000 after purchasing an additional 584,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,615,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,457,000 after purchasing an additional 237,903 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $22.74 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.62 and a 1 year high of $36.17. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

About BCE

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.