Korea Investment CORP Reduces Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 88.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 128,400 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in BCE were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in BCE by 4.8% in the 3rd 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in BCE by 25.3% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,522,000. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,094,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE BCE opened at $22.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.58 and a 200-day moving average of $26.78. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $36.17. The firm has a market cap of $21.03 billion, a PE ratio of 190.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.21%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,291.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

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.