AGF Management Ltd. Purchases 1,049,810 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Free Report) TSE: BCE by 4,046.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,075,757 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 1,049,810 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd. owned 0.12% of BCE worth $42,363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 147.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,405,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,222,227. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $47.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $33.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. The company has a market capitalization of $30.96 billion, a PE ratio of 23.57, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.55.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.738 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.70%. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 202.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays reduced 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 note on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $49.00.

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.