BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Holdings Increased by Prospera Financial Services Inc

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 6.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 478 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in BCE were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 21,487 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of BCE by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $115,379,000 after buying an additional 186,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 3,514,662 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $113,812,000 after purchasing an additional 71,917 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $27.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.11. The company has a market cap of $24.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 385.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.16 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.45 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.91%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 4,228.57%.

BCE Company 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.