BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Bought by Logan Capital Management Inc.

Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 103,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,438 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in BCE by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in BCE by 321.0% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the third quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the second quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $25.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.24 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.40. The stock has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 364.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54.

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 issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.55%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

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.