BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$33.72 and traded as high as C$34.46. BCE shares last traded at C$34.25, with a volume of 5,505,675 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on BCE shares. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Scotiabank increased their target price on BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from C$41.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Desjardins dropped their target price on BCE from C$41.50 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$38.50.

BCE Trading Down 0.6%

The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$33.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$33.74. The firm has a market cap of C$31.98 billion, a PE ratio of 5.06, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.24.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 29.69% and a net margin of 26.07%.The business had revenue of C$6.17 billion during the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current year.

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BCE news, insider Sean Cohan sold 3,645 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.48, for a total value of C$122,034.60. Also, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total value of C$138,054.90. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock worth $376,465. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

Bell Media is Canada’s leading media and entertainment company with a portfolio of assets in premium video, audio, out-of-home advertising, and digital media. This includes Canada’s most-watched television network, CTV; the largest Canadian-owned video streamer, Crave, with a premium add-on to include STARZ; a powerful suite of specialty channels; the most-trusted news brand, CTV News; Canada’s cross-platform sports leaders, TSN and RDS; leading out-of-home advertising network, Astral; Québec’s fast-growing conventional French-language network, Noovo; the country’s leading radio and podcast app, iHeartRadio Canada; and a range of award-winning original productions, brands, and services.