Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 43.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 55,542 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 43,537 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in BCE were worth $1,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

BCE Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE BCE traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 818,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,309,877. BCE, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $22.87 billion, a PE ratio of 94.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $22.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 488.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus 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.