BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading 0.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price shot up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $24.17 and last traded at $23.85. 720,120 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 2,454,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Down 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $21.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 337.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.14. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4,214.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in BCE by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of BCE by 12.0% during the second 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of BCE by 0.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $163,932,000 after buying an additional 21,487 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after buying an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in BCE by 5.5% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,564,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,379,000 after acquiring an additional 186,659 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.