BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Shares Bought by Intact Investment Management Inc.

Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 66.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 543,320 shares during the period. BCE accounts for 1.6% of Intact Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BCE were worth $47,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BCE. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the first quarter worth $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 321.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $32.10 on Monday. BCE Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.13 and a twelve month high of $41.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.25 and a 200-day moving average of $33.72. The firm has a market cap of $29.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on BCE. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.33.

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.