Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO - Get Free Report) NYSE: BMO's stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$154.47 and last traded at C$152.96, with a volume of 2991106 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$153.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$163.00 to C$161.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$150.00 to C$156.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$155.00 to C$129.00 in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, National Bankshares set a C$144.00 price target on shares of Bank of Montreal and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Eight investment 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$145.69.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.4%

The stock has a market cap of C$112.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$145.03 and a 200-day moving average of C$140.97.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.59. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 61.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of Montreal news, Senior Officer Erminia Johannson sold 4,676 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$147.57, for a total transaction of C$690,023.29. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.