Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC Acquires 2,852 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Verity & Verity LLC increased its stake in BCE by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 405,019 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,110,000 after acquiring an additional 11,006 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the second quarter valued at about $1,909,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in BCE by 7.2% during the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,768,597 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $89,622,000 after purchasing an additional 185,943 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 11.8% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 9,475 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in BCE by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 210,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,818,000 after buying an additional 9,954 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $33.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market cap of $30.12 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.73.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 186.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. National Bank Financial downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

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.