CIBC upgraded shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE – Free Report) (TSE:BCE) from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports.
Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Argus cut BCE from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. TD Securities cut BCE from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a market perform rating and set a $46.00 target price (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $49.00.
View Our Latest Research Report on BCE
BCE Price Performance
BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.742 dividend. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.10%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 173.96%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,615,000 after acquiring an additional 109,866 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in BCE by 57.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $88,908,000 after purchasing an additional 843,626 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its holdings in BCE by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in BCE by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 30,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $603,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.
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