BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Plans C$0.44 Quarterly Dividend

BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 5th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of 0.4375 per share by the utilities provider on Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 6.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th.

BCE has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. BCE has a dividend payout ratio of 66.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect BCE to earn $1.94 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.25 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.4%.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE traded down $0.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.60. The company had a trading volume of 7,902,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,587,652. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.87 billion, a PE ratio of 5.32 and a beta of 0.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $23.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.85. BCE has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $26.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.14 billion. BCE had a net margin of 25.62% and a return on equity of 17.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position in BCE by 9.7% in the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,020,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,834,000 after purchasing an additional 700,797 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 16,212,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $378,981,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206,385 shares during the last quarter. Canerector Inc. raised its stake in shares of BCE by 3,152.0% during the third quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 8,130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,161,000 after buying an additional 7,880,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of BCE by 77.6% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,459,000 after buying an additional 2,792,485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

About BCE

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.