Alberta Investment Management Corp Sells 30,500 Shares of 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 reduced its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 0.06% of BCE worth $11,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. WealthCollab LLC purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its position in BCE by 77.2% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

BCE Stock Performance

BCE traded down $0.39 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.18. The company had a trading volume of 2,047,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,259,754. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.79. The company has a market cap of $21.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.62. BCE, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $36.17.

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. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 1.82%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 565.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 488.46%.

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.