Blueshift Asset Management LLC Buys 9,173 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 153.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,173 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BCE. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,734,000 after buying an additional 168,704 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,085,000 after acquiring an additional 584,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its stake in BCE by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,615,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,457,000 after acquiring an additional 237,903 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Down 1.3 %

BCE stock opened at $22.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. The stock has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.29, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. Equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.26%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

About BCE

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.