Legal & General Group Plc Sells 103,945 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,265,259 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 103,945 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.25% of BCE worth $52,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BCE. FMR LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 9.0% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 60,123 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 4,970 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 148,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,286,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in BCE by 97.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,725 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 6,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter worth about $701,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:BCE traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $22.06. The stock had a trading volume of 737,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,782,352. The business's 50 day moving average is $23.00 and its 200-day moving average is $25.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. BCE's payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

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.