BCE’s (BCE) Underweight Rating Reiterated at Barclays

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Barclays in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on BCE. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE opened at $23.18 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.85 and a 200-day moving average of $30.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market capitalization of $21.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 331.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.56. BCE has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $41.51.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in BCE by 4.8% in 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of BCE by 48.7% during 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 in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in BCE by 78.5% in 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 in the last quarter. 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.