BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Park Place Capital Corp

Park Place Capital Corp cut its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 24.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,666 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,172 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in BCE were worth $410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in BCE by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 31,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its stake in BCE by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 9,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its position in BCE by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several research reports. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays reduced their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

BCE Stock Down 1.2 %

NYSE:BCE traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,111,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,305,893. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $33.07 and a 200-day moving average of $34.70. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.13 and a 52-week high of $42.96.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 16.88%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.60%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 202.08%.

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.