Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC Sells 1,445 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC cut its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 78,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,445 shares during the quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in BCE by 120,000.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 147.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in BCE during the first quarter valued at $88,000. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $32.22. 652,245 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,607,757. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.88. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $31.82 and a one year high of $48.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.21%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 174.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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