Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after CIBC raised their price target on the stock from C$120.00 to C$134.00. The stock traded as high as C$134.16 and last traded at C$133.63, with a volume of 655030 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$132.68.

BMO has been the subject of a number of other research reports. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$114.00 to C$131.00 in a report on Friday, November 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$143.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$112.00 to C$147.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$141.00 to C$124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$128.50.

Insider Transactions at Bank of Montreal

In other news, Senior Officer Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 7,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$112.16, for a total value of C$886,977.10. Also, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$121.85, for a total value of C$1,562,007.97. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of C$96.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$126.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$121.25.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported C$2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.72 by C($0.08). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 21.20%. The company had revenue of C$8.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$8.23 billion. Analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $6.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.67%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 71.35%.

About Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through Canadian P&C, U.S P&C, BMO Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets segments. The company's personal banking products and services include deposits, mortgages, home lending, consumer credit, small business lending, credit cards, cash management, financial and investment advice, and other banking services; and commercial banking products and services comprise various of financing options and treasury and payment solutions, as well as risk management products.