BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Price Up 1% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) traded up 1% during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $22.49 and last traded at $22.36. 745,768 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,614,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.14.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,350.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America cut shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.50.

BCE Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.69. The company has a market capitalization of $20.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 186.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. BCE had a net margin of 0.99% and a return on equity of 17.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of BCE

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of BCE by 27.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 911,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,532,000 after buying an additional 63,763 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in BCE by 93.6% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in BCE in the 4th quarter worth $8,233,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. 41.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.