American Century Companies Inc. Lowers Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,929,820 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,619 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $94,894,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its stake in shares of BCE by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 9,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $391,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 6.8% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 4.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 4.7% in the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 11,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $35.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.18 and a 200 day moving average of $33.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.