Barclays PLC Acquires 174,728 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 145.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 174,728 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $6,841,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of BCE by 67.6% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $22.00 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.33, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average 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.