Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Acquires 3,095 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 366,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,095 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $14,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in BCE by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 15,198,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $580,173,000 after buying an additional 661,255 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,332,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $547,084,000 after purchasing an additional 294,626 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in BCE by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,007,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $423,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,418 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 8,798,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $335,610,000 after purchasing an additional 554,804 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in BCE by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,967,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,615,000 after purchasing an additional 362,398 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $32.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.93 and its 200 day moving average is $37.80. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.82 and a 52 week high of $48.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.56%.

BCE Company 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.