Pacifica Partners Inc. Sells 2,075 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Pacifica Partners Inc. trimmed its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 7.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 25,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,075 shares during the quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in shares of BCE by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 13,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of BCE by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:BCE opened at $21.79 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.58, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BCE. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.67.

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.