Brokerages Set Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) PT at $122.40

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $128.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $97.58 on Thursday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.20.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 42,247.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 17,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after purchasing an additional 17,744 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the second quarter valued at about $235,000. AGF Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 1,799,287 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $158,840,000 after purchasing an additional 34,667 shares during the period. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 62.6% during the 2nd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,738 shares of the bank’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 23.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 164,531 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,810,000 after purchasing an additional 31,374 shares during the period. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.