BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Short Interest Down 7.2% in November

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) saw a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 48,690,000 shares, a decline of 7.2% from the November 15th total of 52,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,030,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 16.1 days. Currently, 5.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

BCE Price Performance

Shares of BCE stock opened at $23.60 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 337.07, a PEG ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.54. BCE has a 12 month low of $23.38 and a 12 month high of $41.77.

BCE Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.737 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.49%. This is a positive change from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 4,214.29%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BCE

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of BCE by 121.2% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in BCE in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC raised its holdings in BCE by 321.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of BCE during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BCE shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on BCE in a report on Monday. They issued an “underweight” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on BCE from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on BCE from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, National Bank Financial lowered BCE from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.