BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading Down 1.3% – What’s Next?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) shares fell 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $25.57 and last traded at $25.64. 866,166 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 2,448,438 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.97.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on BCE shares. National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays cut their target price on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 1.1 %

The company has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 364.50, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.40.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.737 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in BCE by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 905,857 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,061,488 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in BCE by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,932,000 after acquiring an additional 21,487 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in BCE by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after purchasing an additional 186,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

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.