Louisbourg Investments Inc. Has $102,000 Stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Louisbourg Investments Inc. decreased its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 68.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,501 shares during the period. Louisbourg Investments Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BCE. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 12.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at about $296,000. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,372 shares during the period. Finally, Probity Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 6.8% during the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 17,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.50.

BCE Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $22.88 on Wednesday. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $38.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.54. The company has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.63, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. Research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,283.33%.

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.