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

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $128.00.

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research 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 target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after acquiring an additional 625,797 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.5% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,793,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $432,823,000 after acquiring an additional 114,909 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,701,814 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $358,991,000 after purchasing an additional 248,096 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $99.61 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $98.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.02. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $72.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.55%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.