BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC cut its stake in BCE, Inc. by 73.1% in the first quarter, now holding 24,160 shares valued at $555,000.
• BCE's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.46, missing analyst estimates of $0.52, with revenues also falling short at $4.47 billion.
• The company declared a dividend of $0.4375 per share, leading to an extremely high yield of 565.0% and a payout ratio of 437.93%.

Natixis Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 73.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,160 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 65,517 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 5,202,254 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $119,389,000 after purchasing an additional 567,705 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of BCE by 59.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,847 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 12,590 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 649.7% in the 1st quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 66,577 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 57,696 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,897,084 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $43,545,000 after acquiring an additional 281,128 shares during the period. Finally, Old Port Advisors raised its stake in shares of BCE by 15.3% in the 1st quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 45,683 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,074 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Desjardins raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,623,023 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,295,459. The company's 50-day moving average is $23.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.84. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.06). BCE had a net margin of 1.96% and a return on equity of 18.89%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a yield of 565.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is currently 437.93%.

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.