TD Asset Management Inc Sells 380,658 Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in BCE, Inc. by 4.0%, selling 380,658 shares and retaining approximately 9.17 million shares valued at $210.65 million.
• The stock currently holds an average rating of "Hold" from analysts, with a target price of $38.67 as several institutions adjust their ratings on the company.
• BCE has declared a dividend of $0.4375 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of 5.65% despite a high payout ratio of 488.46%.

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its position in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,178,889 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 380,658 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned about 1.00% of BCE worth $210,650,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in BCE by 10.8% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,814,111 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $368,073,000 after acquiring an additional 411,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in BCE by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $244,692,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,839 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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, 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.67.

BCE Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.55. 419,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,278,036. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.77. The company has a market capitalization of $21.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.61. BCE, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month 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.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

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