Mackenzie Financial Corp Lowers Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lessened its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,061,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 173,450 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned 0.23% of BCE worth $47,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of BCE stock opened at $21.54 on Monday. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $36.17. The company has a 50 day moving average of $21.95 and a 200 day moving average of $23.60. 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 company has a market capitalization of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.67.

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.