BCE (NYSE:BCE) Stock Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of BCE, Inc. (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $23.72 and traded as high as $24.32. BCE shares last traded at $24.14, with a volume of 2,649,619 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BCE has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Securities upgraded BCE from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Barclays cut their target price on BCE from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BCE from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BCE in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of BCE from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

BCE Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.02 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.72.

BCE (NYSE:BCE) (TSE:BCE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.05. BCE had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 25.62%.The firm had revenue of $4.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. BCE has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.910-1.980 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that BCE, Inc. will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.2%. BCE’s payout ratio is presently 25.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Canerector Inc. boosted its position in BCE by 3,152.0% during the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 8,130,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,161,000 after buying an additional 7,880,000 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of BCE by 99.4% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 14,006,153 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $310,682,000 after acquiring an additional 6,981,281 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of BCE during the second quarter valued at about $81,315,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 9.7% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 34,107,306 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $797,161,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,110 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BCE by 77.6% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,389,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $149,459,000 after purchasing an additional 2,792,485 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.46% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

BCE Inc (NYSE: BCE) is a Canadian communications, media and entertainment company that operates through its primary subsidiaries, including Bell Canada and Bell Media. As a large integrated telecommunications provider, BCE delivers a broad range of connectivity services and content to residential, business and wholesale customers across Canada. The company combines network infrastructure with media assets to offer bundled communications and entertainment solutions.

On the services side, BCE provides fixed-line and wireless voice services, mobile data, high-speed internet, fibre and broadband access, and television services through platforms such as Bell Fibe and Bell TV.