BCE (NYSE:BCE) PT Lowered to $35.00

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) had its price objective cut by analysts at Barclays from $38.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.79% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, TD Securities lowered BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

BCE Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE BCE opened at $32.78 on Tuesday. BCE has a 1-year low of $32.38 and a 1-year high of $48.38. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.29 and a 200-day moving average of $38.18. The firm has a market cap of $29.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.02. BCE had a return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 239.9% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.