Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Has $206,000 Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 37.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,881 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,374 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $206,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,734,000 after acquiring an additional 168,704 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Lincluden Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,615,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,457,000 after purchasing an additional 237,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 14.1% during the third quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,216,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,330,000 after purchasing an additional 150,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.15 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.87 and a 52 week high of $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $23.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.16. The company has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 192.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,291.67%.

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.