BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.25.

Several research firms have recently commented on BCE. Argus downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. CIBC raised BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

BCE Stock Down 0.4 %

BCE stock opened at $32.58 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.13. BCE has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $46.02.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.47 billion. BCE had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 16.86%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.738 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 201.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BCE. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of BCE by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,933,185 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $643,159,000 after purchasing an additional 221,174 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,725,614 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $500,376,000 after acquiring an additional 80,879 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of BCE by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,262 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,151,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $441,217,000 after acquiring an additional 435,681 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of BCE by 20.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 11,007,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $423,202,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,418 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently 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 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.