BCE (TSE:BCE) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$33.53 and traded as high as C$34.06. BCE shares last traded at C$33.99, with a volume of 3,416,753 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BCE has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities downgraded shares of BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from C$41.00 to C$37.00 in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Desjardins decreased their price target on shares of BCE from C$41.50 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays raised shares of BCE from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BCE presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$38.50.

BCE Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$31.70 billion, a PE ratio of 5.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.33. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$33.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$33.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 183.90.

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

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Sean Cohan sold 3,645 shares of BCE 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 transaction of C$122,034.60. Also, insider Karine Moses sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$33.25, for a total value of C$116,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 3,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$123,424. This represents a 48.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 11,255 shares of company stock valued at $376,465 over the last three months. 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.