BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Stock Position Lifted by Icon Wealth Advisors LLC

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 442.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,776 shares during the quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth about $262,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its holdings in BCE by 60.1% during the third quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 67,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 25,228 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 10.7% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC now owns 26,278 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.3 %

BCE stock opened at $26.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.16. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.45 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 382.43, a P/E/G ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4,228.57%.

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.