MQS Management LLC Invests $423,000 in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,438 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $423,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 50.9% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 45,150 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 15,239 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 137.1% in the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 175,031 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,957,000 after purchasing an additional 101,223 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 11.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 966,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,184,000 after purchasing an additional 100,122 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 105,921 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,432,000 after purchasing an additional 4,947 shares during the period. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 5.5% in the first quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 25,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 1,317 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

BCE traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.11. 2,579,006 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,123,280. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a PE ratio of 92.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.61. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.74. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued 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 (DPR) is presently 488.46%.

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.