FORA Capital LLC Takes Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 21,652 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in BCE by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its holdings in BCE by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 13,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its position in BCE by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 23,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 24,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position 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 valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $22.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market cap of $20.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.37. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.28 and a 52 week high of $36.17.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on BCE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

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.