Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$135.92.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BMO shares. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$134.00 to C$150.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from C$147.00 to C$160.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$133.00 to C$161.00 in a research note on Wednesday.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.1 %

BMO opened at C$141.63 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of C$109.02 and a 52 week high of C$147.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is C$135.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$124.52. The firm has a market cap of C$103.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a $1.59 dividend. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.35%.

Insider Activity at Bank of Montreal

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$140.79, for a total value of C$1,601,592.91. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.