First Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

First Bank & Trust lessened its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 70.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,170 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in BCE were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,372 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $253,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 19,650 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $684,000 after purchasing an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $338,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $38.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 196.38, a PEG ratio of 4.02 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.11.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.82%. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,350.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BCE. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.50.

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.