Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) to Issue Dividend Increase - $1.13 Per Share

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.1329 per share by the bank on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.12.

Bank of Montreal has raised its dividend by an average of 11.0% annually over the last three years. Bank of Montreal has a payout ratio of 56.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Bank of Montreal to earn $7.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.39 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.1%.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock traded up $3.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.39. 1,388,703 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 897,469. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $75.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $93.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $88.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on BMO shares. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.40.

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.

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