Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Cuts Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ reduced its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Get Rating) (TSE:BCE) by 35.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,695 shares during the quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in BCE were worth $770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,375,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $742,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661,300 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,200,273 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,619,000 after purchasing an additional 496,949 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,224,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $469,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198,271 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 5,568,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $233,532,000 after purchasing an additional 112,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 2,875,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,538,000 after purchasing an additional 79,322 shares during the last quarter. 42.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Down 0.6 %

BCE opened at $47.34 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $39.88 and a 52 week high of $55.13. The stock has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $46.08 and a 200-day moving average of $45.88.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.714 per share. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. BCE’s payout ratio is 133.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on BCE. StockNews.com lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. TD Securities lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from C$65.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from C$66.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of BCE from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.72.

BCE Company Profile

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BCE, Inc is a telecommunications and media company, which engages in the provision of communication services to residential, business, and wholesale customers. It operates through the following segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment covers integrated digital wireless voice and data communications products and services to residential and business customers.