CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Buys 27,170 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 478,695 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 27,170 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.05% of BCE worth $11,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FIL Ltd increased its stake in BCE by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $368,073,000 after acquiring an additional 411,911 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of BCE by 623.9% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $217,573,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 2.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE traded down $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,636,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,579. 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 50 day moving average price of $22.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.04. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The firm has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. As a group, research analysts predict 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 was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.86%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

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.