Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 143.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,540 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 61,658 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $2,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Barclays PLC lifted its position in BCE by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. Tobam raised its stake in shares of BCE by 198.0% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,668,000 after purchasing an additional 47,816 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 154.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 52,027 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 31,607 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $8,233,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its position in shares of BCE by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 562,433 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $13,037,000 after buying an additional 48,997 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BCE. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $38.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded up $0.32 during trading on Monday, hitting $22.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,734,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,976,482. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $20.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 184.13, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $21.72 and a 200-day moving average of $23.21. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. 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 company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share 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.