First County Bank CT Has $857,000 Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

First County Bank CT reduced its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCEFree Report) (TSE:BCE) by 19.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,915 shares during the quarter. First County Bank CT’s holdings in BCE were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 5,036.0% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,042 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in BCE by 23.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in BCE by 12.0% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,553,000 after purchasing an additional 905,857 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE BCE opened at $26.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.21. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $26.45 and a 12 month high of $41.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 381.36, a PEG ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,228.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

View Our Latest Report on BCE

BCE Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BCE (NYSE:BCE)

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