Cullen Capital Management LLC Has $81.79 Million Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Cullen Capital Management LLC lessened its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,528,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,110,437 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.39% of BCE worth $81,793,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $87,643,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in BCE by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240,473 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BCE by 114.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,384,000 after acquiring an additional 825,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at about $17,271,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BCE. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $22.74 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.63. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.62 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.25%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

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.