Brokerages Set Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) PT at $119.75

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

BMO has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Desjardins downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 29th. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of BMO opened at $82.91 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $73.98 and a 12-month high of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $84.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.123 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.42%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 74.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,739 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $568,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 8,581 shares of the bank’s stock worth $720,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 28.0% during the first quarter. IAG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 635 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the bank’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.