BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.00.
Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BCE from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Argus cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th.
View Our Latest Analysis on BCE
BCE Trading Down 0.6 %
BCE (NYSE:BCE – Get Free Report) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.
BCE Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.742 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.69%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 175.15%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Leo Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BCE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,183,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,644,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $576,710,000 after buying an additional 311,902 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 44.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,351,436 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $132,599,000 after buying an additional 1,033,134 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,284,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $168,736,000 after buying an additional 2,708,625 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 146,626 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,791,000 after buying an additional 23,980 shares during the period. 42.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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 three segments: Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline, and Bell Media. The Bell Wireless segment offers integrated digital wireless voice and data communication products and services, as well as consumer electronics products.
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