BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Purchased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,388,557 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,201,079 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.48% of BCE worth $101,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,522,000. Tobam increased its position in shares of BCE by 198.0% in the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 47,816 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $17,271,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on BCE shares. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays reiterated 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $21.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,636,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,801,265. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.16. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a PE ratio of 180.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.86%. BCE's payout ratio is currently 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.