Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Makes New $253,000 Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 7,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its holdings in BCE by 52.6% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 47,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 16,534 shares in the last quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 5.7% in the first quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 54,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894 shares in the last quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co increased its holdings in BCE by 12.1% in the first quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 371,223 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,611,000 after purchasing an additional 40,135 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in BCE by 20.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 3,450 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in BCE by 2.8% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 489,894 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,647,000 after acquiring an additional 13,500 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $32.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $29.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.42, a PEG ratio of 5.55 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.40 and its 200 day moving average is $33.73.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.98%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 185.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on BCE. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised 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, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

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.