BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives $40.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 623.9% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 9,398,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $217,573,000 after purchasing an additional 8,100,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter worth about $87,643,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 34.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 10,569,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $244,692,000 after purchasing an additional 2,706,839 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,474 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

BCE stock opened at $24.78 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 206.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.57. BCE has a 1 year low of $21.87 and a 1 year high of $36.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.24.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.6965 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.24%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.