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

XML Financial LLC reduced its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,750 shares during the quarter. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $286,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 65,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its position in BCE by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $569,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 697,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,169,000 after buying an additional 39,115 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty One Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 203,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,720,000 after buying an additional 6,762 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.24 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.46. The company has a market capitalization of $21.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 331.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $41.51.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.69%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,028.57%.

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.