BCE (TSE:BCE) Stock Price Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) shares passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$33.64 and traded as high as C$34.93. BCE shares last traded at C$34.68, with a volume of 3,174,170 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on BCE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. National Bank Financial raised their target price on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Scotiabank raised their target price on BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded BCE from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from C$41.00 to C$37.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$38.50.

BCE Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$32.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.12, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.33. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is C$33.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$33.64.

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

BCE Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 15th will be given a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at BCE

In other BCE news, Director Louis Vachon purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$33.39 per share, with a total value of C$500,850.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 75,000 shares in the company, valued at C$2,504,250. The trade was a 25.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Thierry Chaumont sold 4,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$33.59, for a total transaction of C$138,054.90. Insiders sold a total of 11,255 shares of company stock worth $376,465 in the last quarter. 0.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About BCE

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.