M&T Bank Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 29.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,682 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in BCE were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WealthCollab LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. GeoWealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in BCE by 67.1% during the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 3,310 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its position in BCE by 77.2% in the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Scotiabank raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

BCE Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $24.11 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The company has a market capitalization of $22.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.71, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.74. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 488.46%.

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.