Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $163.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Natl Bk Canada downgraded shares of Bank Of Montreal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut Bank Of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $168.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Friday, January 9th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank Of Montreal

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Bank Of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank Of Montreal during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Bank Of Montreal by 466.7% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 238 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Bank Of Montreal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Princeton Global Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 350 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $136.35 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank Of Montreal has a twelve month low of $85.40 and a twelve month high of $137.16. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $123.56.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 4th. The bank reported $2.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.20. Bank Of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.76% and a net margin of 11.13%.The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Bank Of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.35%.

About Bank Of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.