Addenda Capital Inc. Buys 39,115 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

by · The Markets Daily

Addenda Capital Inc. grew its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 697,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,115 shares during the quarter. Addenda Capital Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $16,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 905,857 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in BCE by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,932,000 after purchasing an additional 21,487 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BCE. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on BCE

BCE Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of BCE opened at $23.16 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The firm has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 330.79, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.03 and its 200-day moving average is $30.63.

BCE Increases Dividend

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

About BCE

(Free Report)

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.

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