BCE (NYSE:BCE) Trading Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) shares were down 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $24.37 and last traded at $24.38. Approximately 386,302 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 3,128,393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Edward Jones cut shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of BCE in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “underweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

BCE Trading Down 5.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $20.20 billion, a PE ratio of 316.27, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.11 and its 200 day moving average is $29.81.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BCE Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.6965 per share. This represents a $2.79 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,283.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in BCE by 4.8% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 18,873,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,421,000 after purchasing an additional 864,472 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 25.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,657,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,282,000 after purchasing an additional 738,656 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its stake in BCE by 130.1% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 293,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,200,000 after acquiring an additional 165,881 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in BCE by 78.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 120,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 52,966 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.