Brokerages Set Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) PT at $119.75

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 5,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 2,455 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,321,849 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,130,000 after buying an additional 307,466 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 4,771 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $430,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 80.0% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank’s stock worth $11,344,000 after buying an additional 55,823 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO opened at $94.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $100.12. The stock has a market cap of $69.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.73%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.13%.

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.