BCE (NYSE:BCE) Shares Down 4.9% – Time to Sell?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) shares traded down 4.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $23.21 and last traded at $23.67. 1,887,329 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 3,316,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

BCE Stock Down 4.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.77 billion, a PE ratio of 340.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.62.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 17.58%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,989,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,028,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $139,734,000 after purchasing an additional 168,704 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of BCE in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $386,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 278,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,453,000 after purchasing an additional 59,795 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

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.