Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) had its target price lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $161.00 to $163.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 58.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $103.03 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 company has a market cap of $75.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.82.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in 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 last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.