BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives $45.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have issued a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock.

BCE Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:BCE opened at $22.84 on Thursday. 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 has a 12-month low of $22.51 and a 12-month high of $41.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 326.29, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.91%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in BCE by 5,036.0% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,042 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in BCE by 48.7% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 1,166,800 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake 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 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.