Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Has $1.37 Million Position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Berkeley Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 236.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,762 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 42,015 shares during the period. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $1,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on BCE. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.42 on Tuesday, hitting $24.39. The company had a trading volume of 946,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,116,893. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.36 and a 200-day moving average of $22.74.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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 yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 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.