BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Short Interest Down 7.2% in November

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 48,690,000 shares, a decline of 7.2% from the November 15th total of 52,480,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 16.1 days. Currently, 5.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BCE by 55.9% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 12,845 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 4,605 shares during the period. Logan Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of BCE by 4.5% during the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 103,643 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,607,000 after purchasing an additional 4,438 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of BCE by 25.2% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 7,786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 138.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 14,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $518,000 after purchasing an additional 8,633 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the third quarter valued at approximately $137,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BCE Stock Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $21.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 337.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $29.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.25. BCE has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.737 per share. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.49%. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is 4,214.29%.

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.