BCE (NYSE:BCE) Earns Underweight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Stock analysts at Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) in a research note issued on Monday. The firm set an “underweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BCE. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of BCE traded down $0.49 during trading on Monday, reaching $24.33. 1,417,365 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,474,285. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.39. The stock has a market cap of $22.20 billion, a PE ratio of 348.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. BCE has a twelve month low of $24.06 and a twelve month high of $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caldwell Sutter Capital Inc. now owns 11,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 1,018 shares during the period. &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in BCE in the second quarter worth $298,000. Cypress Capital Group lifted its stake in BCE by 21.8% in the second quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 8,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 133.1% during the second quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 157,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,109,000 after acquiring an additional 90,128 shares during the period. Finally, Tobam increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 64.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tobam now owns 21,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 8,266 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.