Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 2,235,119 Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. by 66.6%, selling over 2.2 million shares and holding approximately 1.1 million shares worth about $25.7 million.
• BCE faced mixed analyst ratings, with one downgrade to "hold" from Cibc World Markets and a consensus average rating of "Hold" with a price target of $38.67.
• The company reported earnings per share of $0.46 for the last quarter, which missed the consensus estimate by $0.06, with total revenue of $4.47 billion falling short of analyst expectations.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 66.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,119,675 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 2,235,119 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of BCE worth $25,704,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 10.2% during the first quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 11,131 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in BCE by 59.5% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 85,515 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,962,000 after purchasing an additional 31,884 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the first quarter worth about $88,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in BCE by 2.3% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 287,788 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $6,608,000 after purchasing an additional 6,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in BCE by 13.5% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,844,502 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,133,000 after purchasing an additional 815,614 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.51. 2,816,526 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,933,502. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.13 and a 200 day moving average of $22.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.50, a PEG ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. BCE's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a yield of 565.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 437.93%.

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.