Addenda Capital Inc. Decreases Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Addenda Capital Inc. lessened its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 681,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 16,194 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. owned 0.07% of BCE worth $15,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in BCE by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 13,655 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.96. 2,751,320 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,966,205. The business has a 50-day moving average of $21.81 and a 200 day moving average of $23.35. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a PE ratio of 182.96, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

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.