BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Capital Advisors Inc. OK

Capital Advisors Inc. OK trimmed its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 38.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 742,439 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 457,552 shares during the quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK owned 0.08% of BCE worth $29,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in BCE during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its stake in BCE by 147.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of several research reports. Argus cut BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.00.

BCE Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.11. 2,518,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,764,008. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.00 and a 12 month high of $48.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.742 per share. This is a positive change from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.24%. BCE's payout ratio is presently 174.56%.

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.