Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 4.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 249,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,746 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's holdings in BCE were worth $5,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in BCE by 623.9% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,262,000 after buying an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in BCE by 95.5% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $106,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240,473 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Trading Down 3.1%

NYSE BCE traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $21.30. 4,725,434 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,919,194. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 177.50, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $22.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.16.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced 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 business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target 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.