Garrison Asset Management LLC Has $254,000 Stock Position in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Garrison Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 660 shares during the quarter. Garrison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BCE were worth $254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 147.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 2,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $32.90. 2,578,648 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,592,721. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.83. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The firm 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, analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.02%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 174.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BCE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays cut their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.