Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $128.00.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com cut Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the company from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research report on Wednesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fulton Bank N.A. bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $1,407,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth about $760,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 225,823 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,300 shares of the bank's stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank's stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE BMO traded up $1.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $98.43. 715,285 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 546,537. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.08. The stock has a market cap of $71.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

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.