Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$149.00.

BMO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada set a C$163.00 price target on shares of Bank of Montreal and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Scotiabank cut their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$160.00 to C$159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$140.00 to C$155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. National Bankshares raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$153.00 to C$161.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$154.00 to C$165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer Nadim Hirji sold 3,238 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$148.87, for a total value of C$482,024.87. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of BMO opened at C$136.44 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of C$109.02 and a 12-month high of C$151.08. The firm has a market capitalization of C$98.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$142.42 and a 200 day moving average price of C$135.04.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 61.20%.

About Bank of Montreal

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.