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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. TD upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$239.00 to C$263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Barclays raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$203.00 to C$240.00 in a report on Friday, August 21st. Scotia lifted their target price on 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods set a C$295.00 target price on Bank of Montreal and gave the company a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$257.36.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.9%

The stock has a market cap of C$163.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day moving average is C$249.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$221.88.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 25th. The bank reported C$2.38 EPS for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 10.58%. The company had revenue of C$9.90 billion for the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th were given a $1.71 dividend. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $6.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 54.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Tayfun Tuzun sold 20,300 shares of Bank of Montreal 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 transaction of C$4,804,807.00. Also, insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 C$430,094.70. This represents a 73.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,452 shares of company stock worth $9,886,849. 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.