Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Trims Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lessened its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 97.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 48,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,803,937 shares during the quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 947 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 59,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 3,372 shares during the last quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. lifted 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 worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Finally, Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in BCE by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,743 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $826,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

BCE Stock Up 1.7 %

BCE stock opened at $23.27 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.50. The stock has a market cap of $21.23 billion, a PE ratio of 193.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 1-year low of $21.87 and a 1-year high of $38.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,350.00%.

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.