Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 1,482,323 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Acadian Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 98.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,482,323 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in BCE by 3,480.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

BCE Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of BCE opened at $34.51 on Wednesday. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.13 and a 52 week high of $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $31.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.97, a PEG ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.81.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.45%. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

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.