Axa S.A. Invests $1.07 Million in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Axa S.A. purchased a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 46,074 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,068,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in BCE by 138.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,884 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,633 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in BCE by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 203,687 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,720,000 after purchasing an additional 6,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $22.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $20.93 billion, a PE ratio of 189.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.37. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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