DGS Capital Management LLC Has $363,000 Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $363,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 11.3% in the first quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,400,000 after buying an additional 4,171 shares during the period. CFM Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 15.2% in the first quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at about $85,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 11.8% in the first quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 30,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after buying an additional 3,215 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the first quarter valued at about $918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $32.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.82 and a 52 week high of $46.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.54 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.47 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.738 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.12%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 201.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on BCE. Argus cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.25.

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.