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

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have assigned a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in BCE by 19.3% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 7,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its stake in BCE by 39.9% in the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 9,996 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 2,852 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 12.9% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,305 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 947 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in BCE by 321.0% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $22.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.72. BCE has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $38.70. The stock has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 184.49, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,350.00%.

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.