Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Acquires Shares of 2,439 BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $57,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth $9,522,000. Unigestion Holding SA acquired a new stake in BCE in the third quarter valued at about $3,094,000. Finally, Tobam grew its position in BCE by 198.0% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,668,000 after acquiring an additional 47,816 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $20.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.36 and its 200 day moving average is $26.28. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.60 and a one year high of $36.17. The firm has a market cap of $19.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 172.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BCE. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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 assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

About BCE

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.