Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $217.57 Million Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 623.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned approximately 1.03% of BCE worth $217,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in BCE by 217.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 1,147.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in BCE by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays restated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.40. 917,182 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,308,319. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The company's fifty day moving average price is $22.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market cap of $20.64 billion, a PE ratio of 186.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. BCE's payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

BCE Company 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.