Bridgewater Associates LP Lowers Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 22.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,682 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in BCE were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 121.2% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 321.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. 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 report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $27.05 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.45 and a twelve month high of $41.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.90. The stock has a market cap of $24.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 386.29, a PEG ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.737 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.90%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

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.