Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on BMO. National Bankshares increased their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Cormark reduced their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$129.00 to C$118.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from C$134.00 to C$150.00 in a research note on Friday. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$143.00 to C$148.00 in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$131.33.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 4.7 %

TSE:BMO opened at C$146.32 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of C$109.02 and a 52 week high of C$147.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$128.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$121.59. The stock has a market capitalization of C$106.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of Montreal news, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$121.85, for a total transaction of C$1,562,007.97. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.