United Capital Financial Advisers LLC Makes New Investment in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Posted by on Mar 8th, 2023

United Capital Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Get Rating) (TSE:BCE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $338,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in BCE by 53.5% in the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,375,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $742,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661,300 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in BCE by 47.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 13,889,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $682,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,501,302 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 238.7% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,153,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $155,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,467 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in BCE by 523.3% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,872,022 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $92,009,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in BCE by 31.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,302,998 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $263,569,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497,431 shares in the last quarter. 42.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $44.01 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $40.14 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.88 and a 52-week high of $59.34.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.713 per share. This represents a $2.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 116.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BCE. CIBC increased their price target on shares of BCE from C$62.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of BCE from C$65.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. National Bank Financial lowered shares of BCE from an “outperform market weight” rating to a “sector perform market weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of BCE from C$66.00 to C$64.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.18.

About BCE

(Get Rating)

BCE, Inc is a telecommunications and media company, which engages in the provision of communication services to residential, business, and wholesale customers. It operates through the following segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment covers integrated digital wireless voice and data communications products and services to residential and business customers.

Featured Articles

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for BCE (NYSE:BCE)

Receive News & Ratings for BCE Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for BCE and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.