BCE (NYSE:BCE) Shares Down 2.4% – What’s Next?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s stock price was down 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $22.58 and last traded at $22.61. Approximately 885,094 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 2,553,575 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. National Bank Financial downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

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 company has a 50-day moving average of $28.53 and a 200-day moving average of $32.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 324.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.99%. BCE’s payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in BCE by 4.8% in the third 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. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 130.1% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,200,000 after buying an additional 165,881 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA purchased a new position in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth $3,094,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 78.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.