JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 14,182 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd decreased its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,669 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 14,182 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd's holdings in BCE were worth $4,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of BCE by 217.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $21.30. 4,725,434 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,924,128. The stock has a market cap of $19.63 billion, a PE ratio of 177.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.32 and a 200-day moving average of $24.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The business 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%. BCE's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.