Norges Bank Takes $87.64 Million Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 3,785,854 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $87,643,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in BCE by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 799 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $21.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $20.12 billion, a PE ratio of 181.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.55 and its 200-day moving average is $26.74. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.62 and a 1 year high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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%. Equities analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

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.