Brokerages Set BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) PT at $40.00

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on BCE. National Bank Financial upgraded BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bankshares reissued a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of BCE by 78.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,522,000. Tobam raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 198.0% in the fourth quarter. Tobam now owns 71,971 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,668,000 after buying an additional 47,816 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter worth approximately $17,271,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

NYSE:BCE traded down $0.35 on Wednesday, hitting $21.66. The stock had a trading volume of 2,636,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,801,264. BCE has a 52-week low of $20.28 and a 52-week high of $36.17. The stock has a market cap of $19.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 180.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $22.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.24.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. BCE's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,291.67%.

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.