Greenleaf Trust Invests $338,000 in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Greenleaf Trust purchased a new position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 9,717 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $500,376,000 after buying an additional 80,879 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,553,000 after acquiring an additional 905,857 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in BCE by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in BCE by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,932,000 after acquiring an additional 21,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after purchasing an additional 186,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.33.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $32.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $34.47 and its 200 day moving average is $33.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $29.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.77, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.13 and a 12-month high of $41.77.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

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.