Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$259.20 and last traded at C$258.69, with a volume of 343071 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$257.88.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BMO. TD boosted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$239.00 to C$263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Desjardins lifted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$230.00 to C$260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$213.00 to C$225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$226.00 to C$244.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$205.00 to C$230.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Six 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.com, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$239.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.1%

The firm has a market cap of C$180.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$248.29 and a 200 day moving average of C$217.66.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be given a $1.71 dividend. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 27,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 87,166 shares in the company, valued at C$19,676,852.84. This represents a 23.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 4,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$244.61, for a total transaction of C$1,104,903.37. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,758 shares in the company, valued at C$430,024.38. This trade represents a 71.98% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 45,004 shares of company stock worth $10,339,904 over the last ninety days. Company 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.