Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Acquires 8,335 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 51,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,335 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,262,000. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 66.4% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,320,000 after purchasing an additional 543,320 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of BCE by 23.8% in 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. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of BCE by 116.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 56,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after buying an additional 30,125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $26.82 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.38. The company has a market cap of $24.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 383.14, a PEG ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $26.51 and a one year high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.99%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 4,228.57%.

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.