BCE (NYSE:BCE) PT Lowered to $35.00

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) had its target price dropped by stock analysts at Barclays from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on BCE. Argus cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $32.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $29.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.98 and a 200-day moving average of $38.09. BCE has a one year low of $32.38 and a one year high of $48.38.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BCE will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in BCE by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,375,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $742,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,661,300 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 400.8% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,570,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,294,000 after buying an additional 2,857,340 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,284,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,736,000 after buying an additional 2,708,625 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $117,492,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $551,505,000 after buying an additional 2,217,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.