Bank of Montreal’s (BMO) “Sector Perform” Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $133.00 target price on the bank’s stock, up from their prior target price of $106.00.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on BMO. Barclays lowered their target price on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $103.39 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.36. The firm has a market cap of $75.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $104.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 65.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 8,602 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,581 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $720,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.