Guardian Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 317,513 BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Guardian Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 317,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,504,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in BCE by 217.6% in the 4th 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. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 1,147.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:BCE opened at $22.72 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.87 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $23.61 and a 200 day moving average of $27.46. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 189.29, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.26%. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE 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.