BCE (TSE:BCE) Shares Cross Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) shares crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$29.83 and traded as high as C$30.87. BCE shares last traded at C$30.83, with a volume of 9,723,233 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial set a C$37.00 price objective on BCE and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on BCE from C$39.00 to C$36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded BCE from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from C$31.00 to C$35.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Scotia raised their target price on BCE from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Desjardins lowered their target price on BCE from C$43.00 to C$41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BCE has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.42.

BCE Stock Up 4.6%

The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 175.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$29.83 and its 200-day moving average price is C$32.45. The company has a market cap of C$28.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.57, a PEG ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.41.

BCE (TSE:BCE) (NYSE:BCE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.74 EPS for the quarter. BCE had a return on equity of 27.73% and a net margin of 25.89%. The business had revenue of C$6.18 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 15th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.7%. BCE’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Louis Vachon acquired 10,000 shares of BCE stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$30.63 per share, with a total value of C$306,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$3,063,000. The trade was a 11.11% increase in their position. Company insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

BCE Company Profile

Bell is Canada’s largest communications company 1, leading the way in advanced fibre and wireless networks, enterprise services and digital media. By delivering next-generation technology that leverages cloud-based and AI-driven solutions, we’re keeping customers connected, informed and entertained while enabling businesses to compete on the world stage.