BCE (NYSE:BCE) Shares Gap Up to $34.51

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.51, but opened at $35.27. BCE shares last traded at $36.01, with a volume of 613,888 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on BCE from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

BCE Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.29 and a 200 day moving average of $33.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.89 and a beta of 0.58.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.19. BCE had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 8.39%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors 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 8.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 204.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BCE. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in BCE by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of BCE in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in BCE by 3,480.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,074 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its holdings in BCE by 60.0% during the second quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. 41.46% of the stock is currently 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.