Norges Bank Buys New Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 3,785,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $87,643,000. Norges Bank owned 0.41% of BCE at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 72.0% during the 4th quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 1,393,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,270,000 after purchasing an additional 583,366 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE grew its stake in BCE by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 20,356 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 3,690 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,073,000 after acquiring an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $7,504,000. Finally, Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 594.6% during the 4th quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 64,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,483,000 after acquiring an additional 54,821 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Down 4.2 %

BCE stock opened at $21.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.92, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.62 and a twelve month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released 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 net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.6965 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.76%. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE 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.