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

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.40.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $97.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $70.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $99.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 30,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,795,000 after buying an additional 2,177 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,667 shares of the bank’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 8.7% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 5.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,848,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $167,017,000 after purchasing an additional 103,495 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 165,148 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,919,000 after purchasing an additional 10,792 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.