Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. raised its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 612 shares during the quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth $1,183,000. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,983,000 after acquiring an additional 212,047 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,262 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,908,000 after acquiring an additional 843,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth $338,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $31.47. 1,394,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,343,355. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $45.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.85. The firm has a market cap of $28.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. As a group, analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.738 per share. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 201.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.25.

BCE Company 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.