Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives $128.40 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $128.40.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO traded down $1.77 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $95.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 588,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 851,849. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company's 50-day moving average is $99.38 and its 200-day moving average is $95.72. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $69.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.07.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Bank of Montreal's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is presently 57.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the third quarter worth about $45,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.