Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$238.20 and last traded at C$235.13, with a volume of 413173 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$235.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMO. TD lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$212.00 to C$230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$223.00 to C$236.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$199.00 to C$203.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$224.54.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a market capitalization of C$168.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$214.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$196.60.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported C$3.67 earnings per share for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 12.63%.The company had revenue of C$9.57 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 50.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sharon Marie Haward-Laird sold 4,519 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$225.85, for a total value of C$1,020,616.15. Also, Director William Darryl White sold 27,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$225.74, for a total transaction of C$6,132,678.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 87,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$19,676,852.84. This represents a 23.76% decrease in their position. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,487 shares of company stock valued at $8,011,751. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.