Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $128.40.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $101.91 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $73.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.79. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 57.35%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,327,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $300,137,000 after acquiring an additional 144,252 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 10,780 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at $434,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 14,472 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 2,797 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.