Axa S.A. Trims Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Axa S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 53.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,814 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 43,890 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,224,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BCE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $500,376,000 after acquiring an additional 80,879 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in BCE by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,553,000 after purchasing an additional 905,857 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,708,625 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $34.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.76. The firm has a market cap of $31.78 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 204.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BCE Company 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.