Natixis Increases Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Natixis lifted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 217.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 246,309 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 168,622 shares during the quarter. Natixis' holdings in BCE were worth $5,709,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in BCE by 22.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in BCE by 2.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $139,734,000 after buying an additional 168,704 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 report on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.66. 2,636,816 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,801,265. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The business's fifty day moving average price is $22.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.16.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

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.