Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 208,740 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,354,794 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 208,740 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.37% of BCE worth $77,664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in BCE by 4.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in BCE by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $9,522,000. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. bought a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $8,989,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $24.38 on Thursday. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $36.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $22.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 203.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.43%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE 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.