Gold Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 41,044 Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Gold Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 46.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 129,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 41,044 shares during the quarter. BCE makes up 1.3% of Gold Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Gold Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in BCE were worth $2,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP grew 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 valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 7.8% during the first quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,332 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position 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 worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $21.82. The stock had a trading volume of 2,651,614 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,067,871. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company's 50-day moving average is $21.89 and its 200 day moving average is $22.74. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 488.46%.

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.