BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Purchased by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in BCE were worth $123,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $500,376,000 after purchasing an additional 80,879 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 202.0% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Guardian Capital Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of BCE by 6.4% in the first quarter. Guardian Capital Advisors LP now owns 371,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,141,000 after buying an additional 22,382 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,676,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $27.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.51 and a 1-year high of $41.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 390.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.79%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,228.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.