Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives $128.40 Average Price Target from Analysts

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the eleven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.40.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cibc World Mkts cut Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, CIBC downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gold Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,217 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,056 shares of the bank's stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 5.4% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,797 shares of the bank's stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 803.3% during the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 508,135 shares of the bank's stock worth $48,573,000 after purchasing an additional 451,881 shares during the period. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 1,240.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 323,226 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,896,000 after buying an additional 299,115 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE BMO traded up $1.01 on Friday, hitting $95.13. 200,056 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 671,225. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $68.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.38 and a 200-day moving average of $96.27. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 57.35%.

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.