BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Barclays from $38.00 to $35.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Barclays's price target would suggest a potential upside of 5.52% from the stock's current price.
A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on BCE. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus lowered BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Securities lowered BCE from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $49.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on BCE
BCE Trading Up 1.2 %
NYSE BCE traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.17. 2,233,065 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,604,289. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.18. BCE has a 1-year low of $32.38 and a 1-year high of $48.38. The firm has a market cap of $30.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.
BCE (NYSE:BCE - Get Free Report) TSE: BCE last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The business had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.82 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Trading of BCE
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of BCE by 6.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 109,866 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in BCE by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,712,011 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $575,871,000 after acquiring an additional 323,998 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in BCE by 57.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $88,908,000 after acquiring an additional 843,626 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in BCE by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Claret Asset Management Corp increased its stake in BCE by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,307,000 after acquiring an additional 30,444 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About BCE
(
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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.
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