Clearbridge Investments LLC Boosts Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 18.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,582,654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 402,869 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.28% of BCE worth $87,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,933,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $643,159,000 after purchasing an additional 221,174 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $500,376,000 after purchasing an additional 80,879 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,262 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,151,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $441,217,000 after purchasing an additional 435,681 shares during the period. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 9,085,576 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $357,678,000 after purchasing an additional 287,261 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.8 %

BCE stock traded up $0.27 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.16. 1,421,162 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,313,977. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $44.34. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.12. The company has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.51 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.738 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.90%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 201.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

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.