Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 95.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,100 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 21,000 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in BCE were worth $989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth about $8,233,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 153.0% in the 4th quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 15,168 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 9,173 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,565,000. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in BCE by 119.6% during the fourth quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 37,246 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,286 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in BCE by 594.6% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,041 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 54,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in 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. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts cut shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $23.98. The stock had a trading volume of 2,040,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,124,927. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $22.36 and its 200 day moving average is $22.74. The stock has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.21, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.61.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

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