BCE (NYSE:BCE) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $23.21, but opened at $22.61. BCE shares last traded at $22.58, with a volume of 365,670 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on BCE. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price target on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.81. The firm has a market cap of $20.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 325.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.737 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.95%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4,028.57%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position 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 worth $123,877,000 after buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of BCE by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during 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.