Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.00.

Several research firms have weighed in on BMO. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42,247.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 17,744 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the second quarter valued at approximately $235,000. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,799,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $158,840,000 after buying an additional 34,667 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 62.6% in the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 23.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 164,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,810,000 after purchasing an additional 31,374 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at $97.06 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $70.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.91, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.34. 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 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a $1.1329 dividend. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.18%.

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.