TD Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

TD Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,559,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,196,547 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. owned 1.05% of BCE worth $221,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,073,000 after buying an additional 411,911 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,734,000 after buying an additional 168,704 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its position in BCE by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,085,000 after acquiring an additional 584,290 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of BCE opened at $22.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 187.83, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. 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 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.59 and a 200 day moving average of $27.22.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

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.