Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Boosts Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 366,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,095 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $14,485,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its position in BCE by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in BCE by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC increased its position in BCE by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company increased its position in BCE by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 13,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its position in BCE by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 31,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,189,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 1.0 %

BCE stock opened at $32.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.93 and a 200 day moving average of $37.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE Inc. has a 52 week low of $31.82 and a 52 week high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.742 per share. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.02%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 174.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.