BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Entropy Technologies LP

Entropy Technologies LP reduced its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 81.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 43,897 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP’s holdings in BCE were worth $232,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 3,355.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $17,271,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.50.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $23.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a PE ratio of 196.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $23.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.50. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $38.14.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,350.00%.

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.