Koshinski Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Koshinski Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 5.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,134 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 80,879 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake in BCE by 12.0% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,553,000 after purchasing an additional 905,857 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake 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 valued at $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of BCE by 0.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,932,000 after buying an additional 21,487 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 5.5% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after buying an additional 186,659 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $33.43 on Wednesday. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.13 and a 1-year high of $41.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.68 and its 200 day moving average is $33.71. The company has a market cap of $30.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut 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, October 9th. Six investment 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, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

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.