BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) Short Interest Update

BCE Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 19,610,000 shares, an increase of 25.8% from the March 31st total of 15,590,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,730,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.2 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BCE

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in BCE by 84.1% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of BCE by 239.9% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in BCE in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in BCE in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in BCE by 120,000.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of BCE stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $32.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,061,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,550,678. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.49 and a 200-day moving average of $37.62. BCE has a twelve month low of $31.82 and a twelve month high of $48.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $29.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.56.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $4.82 billion. Research analysts forecast that BCE will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

BCE Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.742 dividend. This is a boost from BCE’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $2.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 174.56%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 price target (down previously from $54.00) on shares of BCE in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. CIBC upgraded shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on BCE from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BCE currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.00.

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.