BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Sold by Hennessy Advisors Inc.

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 121,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $2,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BCE. Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 1,429 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in BCE by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 43,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 12,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 4,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Logan Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 4.5% during the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,607,000 after buying an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $23.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 330.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.70. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,028.57%.

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.