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

Key Points

• BCE crossed above its 200-day moving average (200‑day MA C$33.46), trading as high as C$35.37 and last at C$35.26 on volume of about 2.55M shares.
• Analysts have raised targets and ratings—multiple upgrades have pushed the average target to C$37.70 and the consensus rating is "Moderate Buy" (majority Buy/Outperform).
• BCE pays a quarterly dividend of C$0.4375 (annualized C$1.75) for a 5.0% yield (ex‑dividend March 16, payable April 15), while trading at a low P/E of 5.19 but with high debt-to-equity (~179%).

Shares of BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$33.46 and traded as high as C$35.37. BCE shares last traded at C$35.26, with a volume of 2,551,187 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BCE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on BCE from C$33.00 to C$37.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of BCE from C$40.00 to C$41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised shares of BCE from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of BCE from C$38.00 to C$39.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$37.70.

BCE Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$32.88 billion, a PE ratio of 5.19, a P/E/G ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 179.16, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$35.20 and a 200-day moving average price of C$33.46.

BCE (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 6th. The company reported C$0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. BCE had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 31.99%. The company had revenue of C$6.40 billion for the quarter. Sell-side analysts forecast that BCE Inc. will post 3.1120864 EPS for the current year.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. BCE's dividend payout ratio is 34.02%.

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.

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