Achmea Investment Management BV sells 15,331 shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE)

Achmea Investment Management BV reduced its stake in BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) by 10.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,331 shares during the period. Achmea Investment Management BV’s holdings in BCE were worth $4,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of ECB by 84.1% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new stake in BCE in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in ECB during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of ECB by 3,480.0% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ECB by 60.0% in the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of shares are currently owned by institutional investors.

ECB stocks up 0.4%

Shares of ECB stock opened at $35.39 on Friday. ECB Inc. it has a one year low of $31.13 and a one year high of $41.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $34.18 and a 200 day moving average of $33.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62, and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Your Free Report ) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. ECB had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted EPS of $0.59. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

ECB cuts dividends

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.729 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16. This represents an annualized dividend of $2.92 and a yield of 8.24%. The ECB’s payout ratio is currently 204.86%.

Changes in Analyst Ratings

The ECB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts raised ECB from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

Read the latest stock analysis on the ECB

About the ECB

(Free Report)

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 offers wireless products and services, including mobile voice and data plans and devices; Cable products and services involving data, including Internet access, Internet Protocol television, cloud-based services and business solutions, and voice and other communications services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium business, government and large corporate customers.

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