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

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as C$250.00 and last traded at C$249.78, with a volume of 391773 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$248.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on BMO. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$205.00 to C$230.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$240.00 to C$242.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$223.00 to C$236.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Desjardins lifted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$212.00 to C$230.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$224.54.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average price is C$221.66 and its 200 day moving average price is C$200.45. The stock has a market capitalization of C$176.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.26.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last issued 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 net margin of 12.63% and a return on equity of 11.25%. The company had revenue of C$9.57 billion for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid 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 yield of 2.7%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 50.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$244.65, for a total transaction of C$1,223,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$430,094.70. This represents a 73.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Sharon Marie Haward-Laird sold 4,519 shares of the company’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. Insiders have sold 45,004 shares of company stock valued at $10,339,904 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.