Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Boosts Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 52.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,534 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $1,183,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in BCE by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,983,000 after buying an additional 212,047 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in BCE by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after buying an additional 2,217,262 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in BCE by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,908,000 after buying an additional 843,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Up 0.1 %

BCE stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.50. 263,525 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,327,106. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $45.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.98 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.79.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.738 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.37%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 201.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.