Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 5,686 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 603,507 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,686 shares during the period. BCE comprises 1.7% of Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $23,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after acquiring an additional 109,866 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,908,000 after acquiring an additional 843,626 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. Claret Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,307,000 after acquiring an additional 30,444 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 3rd quarter worth $603,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $32.80. 667,590 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,545,493. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.82 and a fifty-two week high of $48.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.65.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.742 per share. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.05%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.