Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Federated Hermes Inc. trimmed its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,727,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 475,399 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.41% of BCE worth $146,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in BCE by 120,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in BCE by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in BCE by 147.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in BCE during the 1st quarter worth $88,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $46.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $49.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $32.21. The stock had a trading volume of 1,392,134 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,617,974. The company has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a PE ratio of 19.06, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $35.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.84. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.82 and a 1 year high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. As a group, equities analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.742 dividend. This is an increase from BCE's previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.21%. BCE's payout ratio is presently 174.56%.

About BCE

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.