Berkeley Capital Partners LLC Buys 42,015 Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the first quarter worth approximately $348,000. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.3% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 23,239 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 10.3% during the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,776 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the period. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the first quarter worth approximately $236,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.5% during the first quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 18,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,573 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

BCE Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $23.70. 2,089,308 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,128,869. The stock has a market cap of $22.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 91.15, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.74. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year 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.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. BCE's payout ratio 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.