Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from C$112.00 to C$147.00. The stock traded as high as C$134.16 and last traded at C$133.63, with a volume of 655030 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$132.68.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on BMO. CIBC lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$116.00 to C$120.00 in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Cormark decreased their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$129.00 to C$118.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Desjardins dropped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$141.00 to C$124.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$118.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$127.33.

Insider Transactions at Bank of Montreal

In other Bank of Montreal news, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$121.85, for a total transaction of C$1,562,007.97. Also, Senior Officer Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 7,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$112.16, for a total transaction of C$886,977.10. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of C$97.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$125.76 and its 200 day moving average is C$121.11.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported C$2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$2.72 by C($0.08). The firm had revenue of C$8.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$8.23 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 21.20% and a return on equity of 8.49%. On average, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 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.