BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Here’s Why

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price traded up 0.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $23.01 and last traded at $23.00. 499,271 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 2,969,163 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 1.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 327.00, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.36 and a 200-day moving average of $30.81.

BCE Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.737 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 4,028.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 12.0% in the second quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 8,450,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $273,553,000 after buying an additional 905,857 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 0.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,932,000 after buying an additional 21,487 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in BCE by 48.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently 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.