Cullen Capital Management LLC Buys 2,792,485 Shares of BCE, Inc. $BCE

Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,792,485 shares during the period. BCE accounts for approximately 1.6% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned 0.69% of BCE worth $149,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 1.4% during the third quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 32,813 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $767,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 14,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 581 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 12,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC lifted its position in BCE by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 60,008 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of BCE from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Wall Street Zen lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, December 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 10th. Cibc Captl Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $26.28 on Thursday. BCE, Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $26.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.91 and a 200 day moving average of $23.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.60.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a net margin of 25.62% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Profile

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.