Natixis Advisors LLC Has $555,000 Stock Position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 73.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 65,517 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 12.2% in the first quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 5,202,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,389,000 after purchasing an additional 567,705 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 59.2% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,847 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 12,590 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 649.7% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 66,577 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 57,696 shares during the last quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 17.4% in the first quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,897,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,545,000 after purchasing an additional 281,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Old Port Advisors raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 15.3% in the first quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 45,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 6,074 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $24.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. BCE, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.28 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.08 and its 200 day moving average is $22.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.91 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 18.89% and a net margin of 1.96%. BCE’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a yield of 565.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 437.93%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Friday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Desjardins upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

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.