AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Purchases New Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 317,193 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,343,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter worth about $65,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake in BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC grew its stake in BCE by 640.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 2,560 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.63 and a 200 day moving average of $29.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 198.79, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.87 and a 52 week high of $38.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.68%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,350.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on BCE. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

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.