Captrust Financial Advisors Decreases Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Captrust Financial Advisors lowered its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 62.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 17,808 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in BCE were worth $243,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in BCE by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,339,449 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,048,000 after buying an additional 478,512 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $559,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in BCE by 502.5% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 156,499 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,628,000 after purchasing an additional 130,522 shares during the period. AXA S.A. acquired a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter worth $1,068,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in BCE by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $429,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,111 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE traded up $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.76. 223,273 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,940,026. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.20, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

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.