BCE (NYSE:BCE) Downgraded to Underperform Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued 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. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE BCE opened at $22.56 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. BCE has a twelve month low of $21.87 and a twelve month high of $41.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $25.36 and its 200-day moving average is $30.81. The stock has a market cap of $20.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 322.29, a P/E/G 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. 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 13.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 4,028.57%.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 12.0% in the 2nd 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. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,068,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $163,932,000 after acquiring an additional 21,487 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 738,656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings 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 worth $123,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.