BCE (NYSE:BCE) Given New $51.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) had its price objective increased by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $48.00 to $51.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 44.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Separately, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.67.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BCE traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $35.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 437,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,241,939. BCE has a one year low of $31.13 and a one year high of $41.77. The company has a market cap of $32.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE 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 analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BCE will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in BCE 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 purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in BCE in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in BCE by 3,480.0% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 60.0% in the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during 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.