BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was down 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $22.18 and last traded at $22.31. Approximately 780,388 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 2,563,413 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on BCE. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 331.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.72%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 4,214.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in BCE by 48.7% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in BCE by 130.1% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,094,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.