Vest Financial LLC Grows Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Vest Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 34.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,362 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,644,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $576,710,000 after acquiring an additional 311,902 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at $918,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in BCE in the first quarter valued at $85,000. CFM Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 41,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,400,000 after buying an additional 4,171 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $33.40 on Tuesday. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.72. The company has a market capitalization of $30.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.19, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on BCE. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

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.