Leisure Capital Management Sells 6,808 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Leisure Capital Management lessened its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,808 shares during the period. Leisure Capital Management’s holdings in BCE were worth $656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% during the third 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 during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the fourth 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. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 147.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in BCE by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.62. The stock had a trading volume of 1,477,945 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,492,673. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.67.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.742 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 174.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.