ORG Partners LLC Raises Holdings in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 77.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,891 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the quarter. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $89,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in BCE by 217.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. WealthCollab LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BCE. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised shares of BCE from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.67.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $21.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. BCE, Inc. has a 12-month low of $20.28 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 488.46%.

About BCE

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.