Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$151.54.

A number of brokerages have commented on BMO. Canaccord Genuity Group set a C$166.00 price target on shares of Bank of Montreal and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$160.00 to C$145.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. CIBC raised their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$156.00 to C$173.00 and gave the stock a “negative” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$150.00 to C$164.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of BMO stock opened at C$158.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$114.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of C$109.22 and a 12 month high of C$158.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$153.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$144.22.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th will be issued a $1.63 dividend. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.59. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of Montreal news, Senior Officer Erminia Johannson sold 4,676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$147.57, for a total transaction of C$690,023.29. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal is a diversified financial-services provider based in North America, operating four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, U.S. P&C banking, wealth management, and capital markets.