BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.67.

Several research firms recently commented on BCE. National Bankshares restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. National Bank Financial raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of BCE in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th.

BCE Stock Up 0.3%

BCE opened at $21.54 on Friday. BCE has a 12 month low of $20.28 and a 12 month high of $36.17. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 179.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.63.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. BCE had a return on equity of 17.89% and a net margin of 0.99%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that BCE will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 26,292,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,474 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 36.1% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 25,249,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $579,458,000 after acquiring an additional 6,697,900 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,945,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $462,262,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,953 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,101,336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $369,574,000 after acquiring an additional 222,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 14,181,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $325,559,000 after acquiring an additional 4,783,232 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.