First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Invests $216,000 in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in BCE by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 26.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 147.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE BCE opened at $33.61 on Thursday. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.82 and a one year high of $48.19. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a PEG ratio of 4.49 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.738 dividend. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 204.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective 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 cut their price objective 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. Argus lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

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.