BCE (TSE:BCE) Shares Cross Above 200 Day Moving Average - Should You Sell?

BCE Inc. (TSE:BCE - Get Free Report) NYSE: BCE's stock price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of C$31.85 and traded as high as C$33.95. BCE shares last traded at C$33.39, with a volume of 2,569,411 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of BCE from C$51.00 to C$35.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of BCE from C$39.50 to C$41.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised shares of BCE from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$35.00 to C$47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of BCE from C$40.50 to C$41.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, CIBC boosted their target price on shares of BCE from C$36.00 to C$37.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$36.17.

BCE Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$30.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.67 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 226.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is C$33.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$31.85.

BCE Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 15th were issued a $0.4375 dividend. This represents a $1.75 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. BCE's payout ratio is 745.65%.

About BCE

BCE is both a wireless and internet service provider, offering wireless, broadband, television, and landline phone services in Canada. It is one of the big three national wireless carriers, with its roughly 10 million customers constituting about 30% of the market. It is also the ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrierthe legacy telephone provider) throughout much of the eastern half of Canada, including in the most populous Canadian provincesOntario and Quebec.

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