BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Tucker Asset Management LLC

Tucker Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 32.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 781 shares during the quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in BCE by 239.9% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in BCE by 147.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $105,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on BCE shares. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.25.

BCE Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.37 on Friday, hitting $32.88. The company had a trading volume of 2,191,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,829,266. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.82 and a 12-month high of $46.02. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.83, a PEG ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.738 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

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.