Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Raises Dividend to $1.18 Per Share

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.1801 per share by the bank on Tuesday, August 26th. This represents a $4.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 30th. This is a 6.4% increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.11.

Bank of Montreal has raised its dividend by an average of 13.0% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Bank of Montreal has a payout ratio of 50.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Bank of Montreal to earn $9.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.63 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.3%.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:BMO traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $107.41. 461,479 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 836,161. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $97.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.85. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $108.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Bank of Montreal stock. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO by 87.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,742 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 2,673 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC's holdings in Bank of Montreal were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on BMO. CIBC reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They set a "sector perform" rating for the company. Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $128.40.

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.