BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in shares of BCE by 52.6% during the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 47,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 16,534 shares during the period. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 6.3% during the first quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 10,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 7.4% during the first quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 701,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $23,821,000 after buying an additional 48,002 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 17.9% during the first quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 128,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after buying an additional 19,500 shares during the period. Finally, Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 12.4% during the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 151,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,155,000 after buying an additional 16,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $32.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.81. The stock has a market cap of $29.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.56. BCE has a 52 week low of $31.82 and a 52 week high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The business 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.25 EPS 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.11%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.56%.

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.