Cullen Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in BCE, Inc. $BCE

Cullen Capital Management LLC increased its position in BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 77.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,792,485 shares during the quarter. BCE accounts for about 1.6% of Cullen Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Cullen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $149,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 33.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 16,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 4,265 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in BCE by 9.0% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,033,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $24,183,000 after buying an additional 85,725 shares during the period. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in BCE by 73.1% during the third quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,084 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,000 after buying an additional 3,414 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in BCE by 4.1% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 320,160 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,396,000 after acquiring an additional 12,525 shares during the period. Finally, Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in BCE by 24.8% in the third quarter. Blake Schutter Theil Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 2,354 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE BCE opened at $26.28 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. BCE, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.28 and a twelve month high of $26.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $23.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.85. The firm has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.60.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The company had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Cibc Captl Mkts upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. CIBC upgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $28.00.

About BCE

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.