Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 1,497 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lowered its position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,497 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in BCE were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,643,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,271,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,945,270 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,085,000 after buying an additional 584,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mufg Securities Canada LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 72.0% in the fourth quarter. Mufg Securities Canada LTD. now owns 1,393,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,270,000 after buying an additional 583,366 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Trading Up 0.3 %

BCE stock opened at $22.74 on Monday. BCE Inc. has a 1 year low of $21.62 and a 1 year high of $36.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.51. The firm has a market cap of $20.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 189.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. 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 (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, research analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 1.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

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.