BCE (NYSE:BCE) Rating Increased to Sector Outperform at CIBC

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was upgraded by CIBC from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports.

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

BCE Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:BCE opened at $33.07 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $34.78 and its 200 day moving average is $37.74. BCE has a 1 year low of $31.82 and a 1 year high of $48.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced 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 return on equity of 17.13% and a net margin of 8.82%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.82 billion. On average, research analysts predict that BCE will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

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