BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Acquired by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 55.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,419 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,488,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $32.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.84. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.82 and a 1-year high of $48.38.

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

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.21%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 174.56%.

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.