BCE (NYSE:BCE) PT Raised to $51.00 at BMO Capital Markets

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) had its price target hoisted by BMO Capital Markets from $48.00 to $51.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of BCE from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $46.67.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $35.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58. BCE has a 52-week low of $31.13 and a 52-week high of $41.77. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.46 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that BCE will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.729 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s payout ratio is 204.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BCE. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 171.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,284,802 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $168,736,000 after buying an additional 2,708,625 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BCE during the fourth quarter worth about $97,874,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of BCE by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after purchasing an additional 2,217,262 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 5,036.0% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,354,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,842,000 after buying an additional 1,328,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares in the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is currently 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.