Brokerages Set Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Price Target at $128.40

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $128.40.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, CIBC cut Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMO. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the first quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE BMO traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $94.13. 683,210 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 870,456. The company has a market cap of $68.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $106.00. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $96.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.28. 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 (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 57.35%.

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.