International Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New $3.22 Million Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 81,792 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,221,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 147.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in BCE in the 1st quarter worth about $88,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:BCE opened at $32.24 on Thursday. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.82 and a one year high of $48.38. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.21%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 174.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.