Insigneo Advisory Services LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Insigneo Advisory Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.6% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 10,690 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.7% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 11,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 509 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 9.2% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $34.83 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.78. The company has a market capitalization of $31.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.19, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.13 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 205.56%.

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.