Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Buys Shares of 15,177 BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC invested $348,000 in BCE, Inc., acquiring 15,177 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Norges Bank, have increased their holdings in BCE, showing positive interest in the stock despite a mixed analyst rating.
• BCE's recent earnings report showed a net revenue decrease of 1.3%, with EPS at $0.48, exceeding expectations, and a high payout ratio of 488.46% following a recent dividend cut.

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC acquired a new position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. WealthCollab LLC purchased a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. GeoWealth Management LLC purchased a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $60,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in BCE by 67.1% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,310 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC raised its position in BCE by 77.2% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.31. 383,918 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,269,089. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $22.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.78. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The stock has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 89.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. BCE's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

BCE 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.