BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price traded down 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $24.37 and last traded at $24.38. 386,302 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,128,393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lowered BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Edward Jones lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

BCE Stock Down 5.9 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.81. The firm has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a PE ratio of 316.27, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 0.76%. Research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.6965 dividend. This represents a $2.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s payout ratio is currently 2,283.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in BCE by 217.6% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 790 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in BCE by 121.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in BCE by 1,147.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,285 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in BCE during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in BCE by 321.0% during the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.