Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 1,521,137 Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. by 7.6%, now holding approximately 18.4 million shares valued at around $423 million, making it its 19th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors increased their positions in BCE during the first quarter, with Avantax Advisory Services Inc. showing significant growth of 649.7% in its holdings.
• BCE recently reported earnings of $0.48 per share, beating expectations, but its revenue dipped 1.3% year-over-year to $4.12 billion.

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 7.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,424,662 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 1,521,137 shares during the period. BCE accounts for 1.0% of Bank of Nova Scotia's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 2.00% of BCE worth $422,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in BCE by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $244,692,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,839 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in BCE by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $429,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of BCE by 37.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,388,557 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $101,727,000 after purchasing an additional 1,201,079 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE traded up $0.27 on Tuesday, hitting $23.58. 2,620,251 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,269,079. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.86 and a 200-day moving average of $22.79. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. 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 stock has a market cap of $21.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. Cibc World Mkts cut BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.