Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$245.08 and last traded at C$244.81, with a volume of 217868 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$242.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$212.00 to C$230.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$195.00 to C$196.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$240.00 to C$242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$226.00 to C$244.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$205.00 to C$230.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$224.54.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.4%

The stock has a market cap of C$173.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$219.04 and its 200 day moving average is C$198.96.

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 (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$9.57 billion during the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 11.25%. Research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 50.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Sharon Marie Haward-Laird sold 4,519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$225.74, for a total transaction of C$6,132,678.58. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 87,166 shares in the company, valued at C$19,676,852.84. This trade represents a 23.76% decrease in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 35,487 shares of company stock valued at $8,011,751. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.