Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$184.95 and last traded at C$184.60, with a volume of 916872 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$181.61.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$182.00 to C$183.00 in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$163.00 to C$178.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$179.00 to C$183.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Natl Bk Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$179.00 to C$187.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$182.75.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$130.86 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$176.21 and a 200 day moving average price of C$168.64.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported C$3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 9.04% and a net margin of 13.57%.The company had revenue of C$9.34 billion for the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th were issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 56.29%.

About Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal is a diversified financial-services provider based in North America, operating four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, U.S. P&C banking, wealth management, and capital markets.