BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.00.

A number of research firms have weighed in on BCE. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in BCE by 623.9% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,573,000 after acquiring an additional 8,100,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in BCE in the fourth quarter valued at about $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,692,000 after acquiring an additional 2,706,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in BCE by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $23.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The company has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 194.75, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.48. BCE has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $36.94.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.92%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,283.33%.

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.