Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO have received an average recommendation of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $129.50.

BMO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CIBC restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays cut Bank of Montreal from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BMO. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 213.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,259,505 shares of the bank's stock worth $406,825,000 after buying an additional 2,899,061 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank's stock valued at $664,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044,862 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,630,962 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 66.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,676,637 shares of the bank's stock worth $351,154,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of BMO stock traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $107.76. 278,883 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 828,570. The business's 50 day moving average price is $98.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.54. The company has a market capitalization of $77.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.08. 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 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $109.10.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The bank reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.84. The business had revenue of $6.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.79 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1801 per share. This represents a $4.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.11. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.48%.

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.