Alberta Investment Management Corp Lowers Holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp has reduced its holdings in BCE, Inc. by 5.5% in the first quarter, bringing their total shares to 520,200, valued at approximately $11.9 million.
• Analysts currently rate BCE with 4 sell ratings, 7 hold ratings, 1 buy rating, and 1 strong buy rating, with an average target price of $38.67.
• BCE's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $0.48, exceeding expectations, but the company reported a 1.3% decline in revenue year-over-year.

Alberta Investment Management Corp decreased its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 520,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 30,500 shares during the quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp owned approximately 0.06% of BCE worth $11,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WealthCollab LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth $60,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in BCE by 67.1% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in BCE by 77.2% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on BCE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.58 on Friday. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.69, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.62. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $22.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.79.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. BCE's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a yield of 565.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 488.46%.

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.

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