DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co Decreases Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co trimmed its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 82.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,301 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 308,593 shares during the quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co’s holdings in BCE were worth $1,535,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during 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. raised its position in BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in BCE by 48.7% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in BCE by 3,355.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Finally, Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its position in BCE by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 1,378,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,940,000 after purchasing an additional 88,866 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $23.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.07 billion, a PE ratio of 199.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.00. BCE Inc. has a one year low of $21.87 and a one year high of $38.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm 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 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 11.63%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,350.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Edward Jones lowered shares of 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.50.

BCE 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.