Cumberland Partners Ltd Sells 24,600 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Cumberland Partners Ltd cut its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 24,600 shares during the period. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,103,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.5% during the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 15,198,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $580,173,000 after buying an additional 661,255 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,332,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $547,084,000 after buying an additional 294,626 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 20.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,007,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $423,202,000 after buying an additional 1,893,418 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.7% during the third quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 8,798,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $335,610,000 after buying an additional 554,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 7.9% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,967,389 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,615,000 after buying an additional 362,398 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

BCE Trading Up 1.1 %

BCE traded up $0.36 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.26. 2,080,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,598,333. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.86 and its 200 day moving average is $37.77. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.742 per share. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 174.56%.

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.