BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Should You Buy?

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) traded up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $24.60 and last traded at $24.54. 445,068 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 3,164,682 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.03.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

BCE Stock Down 5.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.86. The firm has a market cap of $21.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 336.50, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.57.

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

Institutional Trading of BCE

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in BCE by 4.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 864,472 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BCE by 2.9% during 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 during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 position in shares of BCE by 48.7% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,563,534 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $123,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of BCE by 3,355.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 1,852,025 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $64,450,000 after buying an additional 1,798,427 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.