Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Buys 28,191 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 197.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,191 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth $9,522,000. Tobam increased its stake in shares of BCE by 198.0% during the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after buying an additional 47,816 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,271,000. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth about $302,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $21.55 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $19.86 billion, a PE ratio of 179.54, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.