Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 106,428 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC trimmed its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 51.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 99,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 106,428 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in BCE by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 911,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $21,532,000 after purchasing an additional 63,763 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in BCE by 93.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth $8,233,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

BCE Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $21.34 billion, a PE ratio of 192.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.60 and a 200-day moving average of $27.16.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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