BCE (NYSE:BCE) Price Target Cut to $34.00 by Analysts at Barclays

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $35.00 to $34.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

BCE has been the subject of several other research reports. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of BCE from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $46.33.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE opened at $33.31 on Wednesday. BCE has a 1 year low of $31.13 and a 1 year high of $41.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.80 and a 200-day moving average of $33.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a net margin of 8.39% and a return on equity of 17.10%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that BCE will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,480.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 121.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

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.