Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$27.66 and last traded at C$235.42, with a volume of 709096 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$239.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on BMO. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$233.50 to C$268.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Scotia lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$268.00 to C$270.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$259.00 to C$262.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperformer” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from C$244.00 to C$272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Desjardins upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$230.00 to C$260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$257.36.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of C$164.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$249.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$221.33.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported C$2.38 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$9.90 billion for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 10.58%. Analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th were issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Bank of Montreal news, insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 4,517 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$244.61, for a total value of C$1,104,903.37. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$430,024.38. This trade represents a 71.98% decrease in their position. Also, Director Tayfun Tuzun sold 20,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$236.69, for a total value of C$4,804,807.00. Insiders sold 41,452 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,849 over the last 90 days. 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.