BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Sandy Spring Bank

Sandy Spring Bank lessened its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 50.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,762 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in BCE were worth $177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 85.5% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 36,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $845,000 after acquiring an additional 16,794 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 42.9% during the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,085,000 after acquiring an additional 584,290 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 911,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,532,000 after acquiring an additional 63,763 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $22.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.52. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 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 12.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

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.