BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Bought by K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc raised its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 7.0% in the third quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,938 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 8.6% in the third quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 399,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,945,000 after purchasing an additional 31,563 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 6.2% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 48,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after acquiring an additional 2,841 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 216,003 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,245,000 after acquiring an additional 16,067 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in BCE by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of BCE traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.63. 1,477,841 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,569,124. The company has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.82 and a 12-month high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.10%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 173.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.