BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Acquired by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 137.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 101,223 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale's holdings in BCE were worth $3,957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. FIL Ltd increased 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 worth $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in BCE by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in BCE by 10.8% during the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $368,073,000 after acquiring an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in BCE by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $244,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,839 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.82. 2,258,567 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,117,726. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The firm has a market cap of $22.21 billion, a PE ratio of 91.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.61. The company's fifty day moving average price is $22.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.70. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 488.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Cibc World Mkts lowered BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. 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. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.