Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.40.

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at $45,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $95.48 on Tuesday. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.68, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 57.09%.

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.