The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 21,487 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,487 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in BCE were worth $163,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,284,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,736,000 after acquiring an additional 2,708,625 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of BCE by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,262 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 5,036.0% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,042 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of BCE by 44.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,351,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,599,000 after buying an additional 1,033,134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $35.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $34.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 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, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

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.