Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $122.40.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on BMO shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.4% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $407,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,816,385 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $760,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO stock opened at $98.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $104.63. The company has a market cap of $71.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $95.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.02.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.