Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $6.58 Million Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 203,291 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,158 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $6,581,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in BCE by 84.1% during the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its position in BCE by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 9,920 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in BCE by 6.8% during the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 426 shares during the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in BCE by 4.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 11,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $35.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.97. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The company has a market capitalization of $32.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.16%. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 200.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.33.

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.