Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued an overweight rating for the company. Desjardins downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $127.50.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of BMO opened at $84.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $73.98 and a 1-year high of $100.12. The stock has a market cap of $61.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.92.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.01 by ($0.10). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $5.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $1.125 dividend. This represents a $4.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.34%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 74.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 34.6% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the first quarter worth about $105,000. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 171.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,261 shares of the bank’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 454.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 14,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Shipley& Co Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 1st quarter worth about $160,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% 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.