Brokerages Set BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) PT at $45.00

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with 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 analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th.

BCE Trading Up 1.5 %

BCE stock opened at $27.02 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. BCE has a fifty-two week low of $26.45 and a fifty-two week high of $41.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 386.00, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 0.59.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.91%. BCE’s payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 0.6% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 202.0% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 12,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 4.7% during the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,977 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 60.7% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 6,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 17,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 3,855 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.