CIBC Upgrades BCE (NYSE:BCE) to “Sector Outperform”

CIBC upgraded shares of BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

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

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $32.63 on Tuesday. BCE has a 12 month low of $31.82 and a 12 month high of $48.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $34.59 and its 200-day moving average is $37.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a PEG ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.56.

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

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.742 per share. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is currently 173.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 6.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,928,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,615,000 after purchasing an additional 109,866 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of BCE by 57.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,318,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,908,000 after purchasing an additional 843,626 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 29,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,161,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of BCE by 54.2% during the third quarter. Claret Asset Management Corp now owns 86,587 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,307,000 after purchasing an additional 30,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of BCE during the third quarter valued at approximately $603,000. 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.