BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has received an average rating of “Reduce” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th.

BCE Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $24.78 on Tuesday. BCE has a 52-week low of $21.87 and a 52-week high of $36.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 206.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $23.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

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

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.24%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 2,291.67%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake 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 valued at $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in BCE by 22.2% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in BCE by 34.4% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $244,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after buying an additional 2,322,474 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.