Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC Sells 1,445 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC lessened its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,445 shares during the quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in BCE in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 147.7% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $32.22. 652,245 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,607,757. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $35.25 and its 200 day moving average is $37.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.742 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.21%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s payout ratio is 174.56%.

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.