Capstone Investment Advisors LLC Trims Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Capstone Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 59.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,344 shares during the quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its stake in BCE by 5,036.0% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,042 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 905,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $27.04 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.67 billion, a PE ratio of 386.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.59. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.45 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,228.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. 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 reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

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.