Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) to Issue Dividend Increase – $1.18 Per Share

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be given a dividend of 1.1801 per share by the bank on Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This is a 6.4% increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11.

Bank of Montreal has raised its dividend by an average of 13.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Bank of Montreal has a payout ratio of 50.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Bank of Montreal to earn $9.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.63 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.3%.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $107.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $108.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $97.00 and a 200-day moving average of $97.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.84. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Bank of Montreal stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) by 87.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,742 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,673 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on BMO. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued a “sector perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. CIBC reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.40.

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.