Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Bank of Montreal's stock reached a new 52-week high of C$176.12, with trading volumes surpassing 1.5 million shares.
• Recent analyst reports have generally been positive, with Jefferies Financial Group and CIBC both raising their price targets, and the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The Bank of Montreal announced a quarterly dividend of $1.63, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.7%.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO - Get Free Report) NYSE: BMO's stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$26.99 and last traded at C$176.12, with a volume of 1561456 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$175.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BMO has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$164.00 to C$173.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$169.00 to C$179.00 in a report on Friday, October 10th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from C$173.00 to C$180.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$156.00 to C$165.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 27th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of C$167.83.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.2%

The company's fifty day moving average is C$172.95 and its 200-day moving average is C$154.40. The firm has a market capitalization of C$128.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.35.

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 26th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 55.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of Montreal news, insider Alan Tannenbaum sold 9,824 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$175.12, for a total value of C$1,720,408.35. Also, insider Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 9,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$163.89, for a total transaction of C$1,486,782.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 21,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$3,583,553.14. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders sold 35,883 shares of company stock valued at $5,989,740. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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