Geode Capital Management LLC Has $39.38 Million Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 114.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,548,165 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 825,098 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.17% of BCE worth $39,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 148,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,286,000 after buying an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC raised its position in BCE by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,836,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,799,480. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The firm has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 183.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The business's 50-day moving average price is $22.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

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.