Viking Fund Management LLC Sells 150,000 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Viking Fund Management LLC lessened its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 96.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 150,000 shares during the quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $138,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank raised BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bankshares restated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.67.

BCE Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $21.86. The company had a trading volume of 2,279,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,962,536. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 182.13, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.33.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

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.