Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) had its target price hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $161.00 to $163.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 56.92% from the company’s previous close.

BMO has been the topic of several other reports. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $103.88. 217,600 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 610,600. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $75.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $106.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $98.79 and a 200 day moving average of $93.68.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth $1,014,633,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in 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 worth $664,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,044,862 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after buying an additional 1,630,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.