Whittier Trust Co. Has $26,000 Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 65.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in BCE were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,221,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 13,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 2,841 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 525,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $20,780,000 after acquiring an additional 48,266 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 239.9% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $216,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $35.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $31.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 5.62 and a beta of 0.57. 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 fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $42.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.05.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 16.88% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 200.69%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

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.