BCE (TSE:BCE) Share Price Passes Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Securities cut BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from C$41.00 to C$37.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Desjardins cut their price target 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 assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$38.50.

BCE Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$31.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of C$33.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$33.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.66.

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 company had revenue of C$6.17 billion for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that BCE Inc. will post 3.1120864 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BCE Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$33.39 per share, for a total transaction of C$500,850.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 75,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$2,504,250. This trade represents a 25.00% increase in their position. Also, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the company’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 90 days, insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,465. 0.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.