DGS Capital Management LLC Sells 2,320 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

DGS Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,192 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,320 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of BCE. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of BCE in the first quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 147.7% in the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Down 0.6 %

BCE opened at $32.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $29.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE Inc. has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. On average, equities analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.21%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.00.

About BCE

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.