BCE (NYSE:BCE) Hits New 12-Month Low at $32.27

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $32.27 and last traded at $32.27, with a volume of 995469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

BCE Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $29.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.00, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $35.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. Research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.742 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.24%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 174.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BCE. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in BCE by 53.5% during the 1st quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,375,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $742,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661,300 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in BCE by 400.8% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,570,323 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,294,000 after purchasing an additional 2,857,340 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 2,708,625 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in BCE during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $117,492,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of BCE by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 14,007,515 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $551,505,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217,262 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.