Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC Makes New $4.40 Million Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Quinn Opportunity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 190,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,404,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,233,000. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its holdings in BCE by 71.3% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 540,158 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,085,000 after buying an additional 224,788 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in BCE by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after buying an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $20.93 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 174.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.05. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

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.