Quantbot Technologies LP Purchases New Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 283,206 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,565,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in BCE by 130.1% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after purchasing an additional 165,881 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in BCE by 78.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,966 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,522,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. National Bankshares reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $22.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.29, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $36.17. 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 50 day moving average price of $23.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.52.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect 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 issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.26%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.