Summit Securities Group LLC Purchases 3,000 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Summit Securities Group LLC grew its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 56.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in BCE by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position 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 valued at $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in BCE by 78.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter worth about $9,522,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $22.96 on Friday. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.87 and a twelve month high of $36.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.01. The company has a market cap of $21.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 191.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 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 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, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.14%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 2,291.67%.

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.