Tompkins Financial Corp Has $27,000 Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Tompkins Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 98.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 95,981 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in BCE were worth $27,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 12,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Logan Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,607,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.14 and a 200-day moving average of $30.70. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The stock has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 330.79, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.73%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 4,028.57%.

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.