BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• BCE, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from thirteen research firms, which includes four sell ratings and one strong buy rating.
• The average 12-month price target for BCE's stock among analysts is $38.67, despite recent fluctuations in ratings and performance.
• The company announced a dividend of $0.4375 per share, with a staggering payout ratio of 488.46%, indicating financial strain in sustaining dividends amid declining profits.

Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE have been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.67.

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Cibc World Mkts downgraded shares of BCE from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WealthCollab LLC acquired a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in BCE during the second quarter worth $28,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its holdings in BCE by 2,459.6% during the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 1,459 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in BCE during the first quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company's stock.

BCE Trading Up 1.1%

BCE traded up $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $23.58. 3,105,777 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,777,805. BCE has a one year low of $20.28 and a one year high of $36.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 90.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.78.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a net margin of 1.82% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 565.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. BCE's payout ratio is presently 488.46%.

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.