DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co Sells 308,593 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co cut its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 82.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 66,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 308,593 shares during the period. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in BCE in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in BCE by 67.6% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE BCE opened at $23.95 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.00. The stock has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 199.54, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.57. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $38.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.63%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,350.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on BCE. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.50.

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.