Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. Makes New $229,000 Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 5,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,615,000 after acquiring an additional 109,866 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,908,000 after acquiring an additional 843,626 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,307,000 after acquiring an additional 30,444 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $603,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE BCE traded down $0.73 on Thursday, hitting $32.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 677,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,522,923. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.82 and a 1-year high of $48.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.30 and its 200 day moving average is $37.56. The firm has a market cap of $29.68 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a PEG ratio of 4.39 and a beta of 0.56.

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

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 174.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.