BCE (NYSE:BCE) Raised to “Sector Outperform” at CIBC

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by equities research analysts at CIBC from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Argus lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

BCE Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of BCE opened at $33.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.74. The stock has a market cap of $30.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.56. BCE has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.82 billion. Equities analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 84.1% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in BCE by 239.9% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of BCE during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 120,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. 41.46% of the stock is owned by 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.