BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP cut its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 87,382 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 6,804 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 9,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $97,874,000. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its holdings in BCE by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $33,983,000 after acquiring an additional 212,047 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $34.38 on Tuesday. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.24 and its 200-day moving average is $33.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.48%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

About BCE

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.