BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) is Lincluden Management Ltd.’s 5th Largest Position

Lincluden Management Ltd. increased its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,378,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 88,866 shares during the period. BCE comprises about 5.2% of Lincluden Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Lincluden Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.15% of BCE worth $47,940,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 3.9% during the third quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 11,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the third quarter worth $313,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of BCE by 7.7% during the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 73,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,586,000 after buying an additional 5,298 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $32.27 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.13 and a 12 month high of $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.71.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.