BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 21.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,391 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 55,389 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Alliance LLC lifted its position in BCE by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 10,448 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its stake in shares of BCE by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 13,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $316,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $25.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.62. BCE, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.28 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.83.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Cibc World Mkts downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Scotiabank raised BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Desjardins raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.67.

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.