BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,123 shares during the quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in BCE by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its holdings in BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its position in BCE by 321.0% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.33.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $33.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.71. The company has a market cap of $30.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.13 and a one year high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.69%. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

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.