Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Has $244,000 Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC reduced its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 9.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,516 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,114 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $244,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,378,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,940,000 after buying an additional 88,866 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $23.95 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $23.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 199.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $38.01.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share 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 given a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,350.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

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.