BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on BCE. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in 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 during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 15,198,064 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,173,000 after purchasing an additional 661,255 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of BCE by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,644,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $576,710,000 after buying an additional 311,902 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of BCE by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after buying an additional 2,217,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in BCE by 53.5% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,375,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $742,107,000 after buying an additional 4,661,300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $32.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. BCE has a 12-month low of $32.00 and a 12-month high of $48.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.00.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. Research analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.742 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.24%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 173.96%.

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.