Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $163.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on BMO shares. Desjardins reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. National Bank Financial reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Bank Of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, May 28th.

Bank Of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $169.82 on Thursday. Bank Of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $104.08 and a fifty-two week high of $171.69. The company has a market capitalization of $118.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported $2.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.14. Bank Of Montreal had a net margin of 12.60% and a return on equity of 13.04%. The business had revenue of $7.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Bank Of Montreal will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank Of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is a positive change from Bank Of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Bank Of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 50.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,017,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,287,878,000 after acquiring an additional 673,248 shares during the period. Canerector Inc. grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 18,035.0% in the 3rd quarter. Canerector Inc. now owns 22,668,750 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,952,605,000 after acquiring an additional 22,543,750 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,372,601 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,519,180,000 after acquiring an additional 293,575 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Bank Of Montreal by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,445,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,226,622,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,500 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Bank Of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,059,320,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Bank Of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), commonly known as BMO Financial Group, is one of Canada’s largest and longest-established banks. Founded in Montreal and headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, the bank provides a broad range of financial services to retail, commercial, corporate and institutional clients. BMO is publicly listed in both Canada and the United States and operates under a consolidated financial services model that integrates banking, capital markets, wealth management and asset management activities.

BMO’s core businesses include personal and commercial banking—offering checking and savings accounts, lending, mortgages, and small-business services—alongside wealth management and private banking through its asset and investment management divisions.