Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Has $2.04 Million Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Get Rating) (TSE:BCE) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,040,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $535,000. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 5.4% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 111,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,666,000 after purchasing an additional 5,705 shares in the last quarter. Gofen & Glossberg LLC IL acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at about $206,000. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 363.0% in the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 28,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,184,000 after acquiring an additional 22,147 shares during the period. Finally, Bollard Group LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bollard Group LLC now owns 306,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,871,000 after purchasing an additional 3,445 shares in the last quarter. 42.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on BCE from C$66.00 to C$64.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. TD Securities dropped their target price on BCE from C$65.00 to C$64.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Scotiabank lowered BCE from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. 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, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.72.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $47.48 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.31 billion, a PE ratio of 22.29, a P/E/G ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.88 and a fifty-two week high of $55.13.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.714 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.02%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.80%.

About BCE

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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.