Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Purchases 49,435 Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 12.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 460,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,435 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $10,567,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of BCE by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 13,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $21.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $21.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.93. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The company has a market cap of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.56, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. BCE’s payout ratio is 488.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

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.