Signaturefd LLC Acquires 16,794 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 85.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,794 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of BCE by 217.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% in the fourth 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 period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of 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 purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth $51,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on BCE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, National Bankshares reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

BCE Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.41 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.64. The company has a market cap of $21.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 195.04, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.