BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price traded down 1.2% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $26.12 and last traded at $26.15. 997,938 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 2,442,562 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 373.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $30.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

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 represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. CWM LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 138.5% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $238,000 after acquiring an additional 4,273 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter worth about $231,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in BCE during the second quarter worth about $147,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in BCE by 1.4% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 103,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,340,000 after buying an additional 1,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in BCE by 60.0% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. 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.