BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

BCE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of BCE in a report on Monday. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE opened at $23.40 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.18. BCE has a 52-week low of $23.03 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.35 billion, a PE ratio of 334.29, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.60%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 321.0% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in BCE during the third quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in BCE in the 2nd quarter worth about $76,000. 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.