BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 903 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of BCE by 111.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 34,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,330,000 after purchasing an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 9,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 110,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 10,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 431,558 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,512,855. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.43. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.82 and a 1-year high of $48.19. The company has a market cap of $30.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. On average, research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.738 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.78%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 204.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. 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 report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.00.

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.