65,000 Shares in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Purchased by American Assets Investment Management LLC

American Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 65,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,262,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 66.4% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,320,000 after purchasing an additional 543,320 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased 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 valued at $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 116.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 56,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 30,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of BCE stock traded down $0.57 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.28. 744,234 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,283,660. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.27 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 390.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.54.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.81%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,228.57%.

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.