Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Has $244,000 Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 9.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,114 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 18,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $439,000 after buying an additional 2,863 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its holdings in BCE by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in BCE by 217.6% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,343,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $23.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 199.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $21.87 and a one year high of $38.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.95.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.63%. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,350.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

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.