Pacifica Partners Inc. Buys 3,215 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Pacifica Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,215 shares during the period. Pacifica Partners Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in BCE by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 109,866 shares during the period. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,183,000. UBS Group AG grew its stake in shares of BCE by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 862,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,983,000 after acquiring an additional 212,047 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in BCE by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,262 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in BCE by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,908,000 after purchasing an additional 843,626 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.65 during trading on Monday, reaching $33.25. 2,343,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,357,704. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $31.82 and a 1-year high of $46.02. The company has a market cap of $30.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.09, a PEG ratio of 5.19 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.19.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.53. BCE had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 7.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.47 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.738 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.88%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 202.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BCE. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.25.

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.