BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Bought by Claret Asset Management Corp

Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 70.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 252,457 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,227 shares during the period. BCE makes up approximately 0.9% of Claret Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Claret Asset Management Corp’s holdings in BCE were worth $5,849,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. FIL Ltd lifted its position in BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of BCE by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,073,000 after purchasing an additional 411,911 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of BCE by 623.9% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,734,000 after buying an additional 168,704 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $22.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.56. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 183.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.