BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading Up 1% – Should You Buy?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s stock price shot up 1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $23.41 and last traded at $23.38. 746,959 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,316,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.15.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Up 0.7 %

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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.57. The firm has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a PE ratio of 332.90, a PEG ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.64%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,028.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in BCE by 4.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in BCE by 48.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.