BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC

SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC reduced its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,168 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,655 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of BCE. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 6,765 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in BCE by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $752,000 after purchasing an additional 6,804 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $97,874,000. UBS Group AG boosted 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 worth $33,983,000 after buying an additional 212,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,840,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.33.

BCE Price Performance

BCE opened at $35.62 on Thursday. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.13 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.82. The company has a market cap of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a P/E/G ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.19%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 204.86%.

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.