Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $127.50.

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Desjardins downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after acquiring an additional 105,475,200 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,795,402,000 after purchasing an additional 544,767 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187,998 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,231,564,000 after purchasing an additional 692,049 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,495,589 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,435,002,000 after purchasing an additional 738,579 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.9 %

BMO stock opened at $85.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.20, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be issued a $1.125 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.25%.

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.