Scientech Research LLC Purchases New Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 16,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $520,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in BCE in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in BCE by 3,480.0% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $35.19 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.13 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.75.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.29%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

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.