BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) traded up 0.2% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $23.01 and last traded at $23.00. 499,271 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 2,969,163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Edward Jones downgraded 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 assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.94. The stock has a market cap of $21.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 331.14, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.737 dividend. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.72%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in BCE by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 52,966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.