BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

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

A number of analysts recently commented on BCE shares. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, National Bankshares reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $22.96 on Friday. BCE has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $36.17. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 191.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in BCE by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in BCE by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 18,551,400 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $429,796,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814,111 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,878,904 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $368,073,000 after acquiring an additional 411,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.