Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC Has $826,000 Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 11.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $826,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of BCE. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 121.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in BCE by 60.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 321.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Down 0.1 %

BCE traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $33.44. The company had a trading volume of 311,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,222,303. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $34.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.71. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.13 and a 52 week high of $41.77. The company has a market capitalization of $30.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a PEG ratio of 5.55 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.729 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.72%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

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.