BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Acquired by Liberty One Investment Management LLC

Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 203,687 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,762 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.16 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $25.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.64. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market capitalization of $21.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 330.79, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.73%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 4,028.57%.

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.