BCE (NYSE:BCE) Shares Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) shares traded down 1.3% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $23.36 and last traded at $23.55. 574,592 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 3,002,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised 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 downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Down 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 327.86, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.04.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.737 dividend. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.85%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in BCE by 3,355.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $64,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in 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. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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. 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.