BCE (NYSE:BCE) Cut to “Hold” at Canaccord Genuity Group

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was downgraded by research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays reduced their target price on BCE from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. National Bank Financial cut shares of BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Edward Jones downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised BCE from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

BCE Trading Down 9.3 %

Shares of BCE stock opened at $29.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.31, a PEG ratio of 5.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.70. BCE has a twelve month low of $28.82 and a twelve month high of $41.77.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of BCE by 66.4% during the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,360,980 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,320,000 after acquiring an additional 543,320 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,798,427 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of BCE by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,520,090 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $178,677,000 after buying an additional 1,061,488 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 116.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 56,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 30,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS acquired a new stake in BCE during the second quarter valued at $298,000. 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.