XTX Topco Ltd Takes Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 104,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,411,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 22.2% in 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 during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in BCE by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,586,953 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $106,216,000 after acquiring an additional 2,240,473 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 114.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,548,165 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,384,000 after acquiring an additional 825,098 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on BCE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

BCE Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE BCE opened at $21.31 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.64 billion, a PE ratio of 177.54, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.12 and a 200-day moving average of $25.89. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 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.