HighTower Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 41.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,452 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,671 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 33,767 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,175,000 after acquiring an additional 5,925 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in BCE by 43.3% during the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 3,250 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in BCE in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in BCE by 6.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,307 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.15 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 192.94, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. 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 (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

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.