Brokerages Set BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) PT at $38.67

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.67.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on BCE shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. National Bank Financial raised shares of BCE from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, National Bankshares reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, March 11th.

BCE Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:BCE traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,596,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,997,362. 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 has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.08. The stock has a market cap of $21.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.08, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.92 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The company's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 488.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in BCE by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 36.1% in the first quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $579,458,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697,900 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in shares of BCE by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $462,262,000 after purchasing an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 1.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,101,336 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $369,574,000 after purchasing an additional 222,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in BCE by 50.9% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $325,559,000 after purchasing an additional 4,783,232 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.