Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from C$242.00 to C$265.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Bank of Montreal traded as high as C$252.33 and last traded at C$252.15, with a volume of 808308 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$250.15.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on BMO. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$205.00 to C$230.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$226.00 to C$244.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. TD upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$234.00 to C$239.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$195.00 to C$196.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Six research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$226.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 27,167 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$225.74, for a total transaction of C$6,132,678.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 87,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$19,676,852.84. The trade was a 23.76% decrease in their position. Also, insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$244.65, for a total transaction of C$1,223,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,758 shares in the company, valued at C$430,094.70. The trade was a 73.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders sold a total of 45,004 shares of company stock valued at $10,339,904 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of C$177.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.50, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$225.85 and a 200 day moving average of C$202.89.

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

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

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

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.