11,351 Shares in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Purchased by Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd.

Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd. bought a new position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $263,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 78.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth $137,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 138.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,633 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in BCE by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in BCE by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Trading Up 4.8 %

NYSE:BCE opened at $22.27 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $20.53 billion, a PE ratio of 185.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.44.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.