Old North State Trust LLC Buys 1,566 Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Old North State Trust LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 25.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of BCE by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its position in shares of BCE by 321.0% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in BCE during the second quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

BCE opened at $25.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 368.93, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.46. BCE Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.57 and a 12-month high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,228.57%.

BCE 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.