BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Wrapmanager Inc.

Wrapmanager Inc. lowered its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 36.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,547 shares during the quarter. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.6% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 111.6% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,330,000 after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 3.9% in the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 9,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 1.9% during the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 10.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 110,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,098 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $33.80. 1,486,712 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,515,642. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.82 and a 52-week high of $48.19. The company has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.41.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.738 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.73%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.