BCE (NYSE:BCE) Upgraded by CIBC to “Sector Outperform”

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of BCE from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

BCE Price Performance

BCE stock opened at $32.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.80. BCE has a 52-week low of $31.82 and a 52-week high of $48.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.65.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.82% and a return on equity of 17.13%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JCIC Asset Management Inc. grew its position in BCE by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System grew its position in BCE by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 31,420 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in BCE by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 48,401 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC grew its position in BCE by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,280 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company grew its position in BCE by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 13,629 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 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.