Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $99.68 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $98.44 and its 200 day moving average is $92.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $72.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 63.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 33,446.3% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 59,377 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,763,000 after acquiring an additional 59,200 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth $780,000. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,615,141 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,709,215,000 after buying an additional 486,984 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,494,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,960,491,000 after buying an additional 576,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 276.7% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 324,268 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,470,000 after buying an additional 238,193 shares during the last quarter. 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.