Logan Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Logan Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 4.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 103,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,438 shares during the quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $3,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in BCE by 5,036.0% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,842,000 after buying an additional 1,328,042 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $123,877,000 after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,553,000 after acquiring an additional 905,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $25.52 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.40. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.24 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The firm has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 364.50, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.55%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

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.