BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading 0.2% Higher – Should You Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on BCE shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. National Bank Financial cut BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays dropped their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Up 1.0 %

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 business’s fifty day moving average is $25.61 and its 200-day moving average is $30.94. The firm has a market cap of $21.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 331.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.737 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.72%. This is an increase from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 48.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 905,857 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of BCE by 4.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in BCE by 25.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.