Wrapmanager Inc. Cuts Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Wrapmanager Inc. trimmed its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 36.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,547 shares during the period. Wrapmanager Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BCE. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 111.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 18,300 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in BCE by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 9,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 1.9% in the third quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 10.0% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 110,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after buying an additional 10,098 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.18 on Thursday, reaching $33.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,486,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,515,642. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.82 and a 1 year high of $48.19. The firm has a market cap of $30.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.47, a P/E/G ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.41.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced 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. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.73%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.