Aigen Investment Management LP Acquires Shares of 53,471 BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 53,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,239,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in shares of BCE by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on BCE. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $23.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $21.87 billion, a PE ratio of 197.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $36.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

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.