Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 1,190 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,184 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 6.9% during the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,378,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,940,000 after buying an additional 88,866 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Up 1.5 %

BCE stock opened at $23.61 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.87 and a fifty-two week high of $38.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $23.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.50. 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 market cap of $21.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 196.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. As a group, analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 2,350.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

About BCE

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.