BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Bought by Headlands Technologies LLC

Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 83.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 147.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 35.7% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 635 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $32.62 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $29.76 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.82 and a 52-week high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. Equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.742 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.10%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 174.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.