Vest Financial LLC Boosts Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 73.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,198 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 27,208 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $1,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Barclays PLC grew its position in BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,966 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 154.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 52,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 31,607 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 108,040.0% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 5,407 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 5,402 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,233,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in BCE by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 562,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $13,037,000 after purchasing an additional 48,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $22.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,851,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,977,357. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.28 and a 1 year high of $36.17. The firm's 50 day moving average is $21.72 and its 200-day moving average is $23.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.04, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. BCE's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on BCE. 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 upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.