Money Concepts Capital Corp Cuts Position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Money Concepts Capital Corp lessened its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 28.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,882 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,192 shares during the period. Money Concepts Capital Corp's holdings in BCE were worth $824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of BCE by 22.2% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in BCE by 34.4% in 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 in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report 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 raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,295,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,064,362. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $21.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.70. The firm has a market cap of $21.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 1.82%. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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