Tompkins Financial Corp Sells 1,647 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Tompkins Financial Corp lowered its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 1.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 97,166 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,647 shares during the period. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new position in BCE in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.33.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $28.37. 4,007,310 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,286,968. The business’s fifty day moving average is $33.60 and its 200 day moving average is $33.57. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.29 and a 52 week high of $41.77. The company has a market capitalization of $25.88 billion, a PE ratio of 17.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.87 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.62.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.39%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 186.16%.

BCE 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.