BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price was up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $23.41 and last traded at $23.38. Approximately 315,409 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 3,228,094 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.22.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BCE. 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 restated a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday. Edward Jones cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.41. The company has a market capitalization of $21.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 335.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.83 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.737 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.56%. BCE’s payout ratio 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 lifted its position in 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 worth $656,421,000 after buying an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 130.1% in the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,200,000 after buying an additional 165,881 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after buying an additional 52,966 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.