BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $39.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of BCE by 217.6% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares in the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 1,147.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of BCE by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,981 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 799 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Stock Up 1.5 %

BCE stock opened at $25.18 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 209.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. BCE has a one year low of $21.87 and a one year high of $36.81.

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, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.07%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,291.67%.

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.