Quantinno Capital Management LP Reduces Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lowered its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,510 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 21,949 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in BCE were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in BCE by 623.9% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $217,573,000 after buying an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 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 worth $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in BCE by 95.5% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $106,216,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240,473 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.22 on Friday, reaching $21.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 488,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,943,960. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market capitalization of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.96, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $21.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.47. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week 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 the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.67.

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.