Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$195.00 to C$196.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Desjardins boosted 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 report on Thursday, May 28th. 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 company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Barclays increased 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 report on Thursday, May 28th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$224.54.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of C$217.15 and a 200-day moving average of C$197.99. The firm has a market capitalization of C$172.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Bank of Montreal

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 27,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$225.74, for a total value 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. The trade was a 23.76% 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 dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of C$225.85, for a total value of C$1,020,616.15. Insiders sold a total of 35,487 shares of company stock worth $8,011,751 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.