American Assets Investment Management LLC Makes New $2.26 Million Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

American Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 65,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,262,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in BCE during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in BCE by 321.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE traded down $0.57 on Tuesday, reaching $27.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 744,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,283,660. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $33.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.54. The stock has a market cap of $24.89 billion, a PE ratio of 390.57, a PEG ratio of 4.26 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.27 and a twelve month high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.81%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,228.57%.

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.