Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Sets New 52-Week Low After Insider Selling

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) shares hit a new 52-week low on Monday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as C$0.01 and last traded at C$148.75, with a volume of 622869 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$148.76.

Specifically, Senior Officer Nadim Hirji sold 3,238 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$148.87, for a total transaction of C$482,024.87.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$154.00 to C$165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$140.00 to C$155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$160.00 to C$159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Desjardins lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$147.00 to C$155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$145.00 to C$152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$149.31.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of C$104.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$142.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$131.91.

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 61.20%.

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.