Gotham Asset Management LLC Buys 65,648 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 103.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 129,029 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 65,648 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC's holdings in BCE were worth $2,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. FIL Ltd increased its position in BCE by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in BCE by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in BCE by 10.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,814,111 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in BCE by 623.9% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $21.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,337,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,932,080. 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 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm's 50-day moving average is $22.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.67.

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.