Royal Bank of Canada Upgrades Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) to Outperform

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on BMO. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO stock traded up $1.56 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $98.43. The company had a trading volume of 715,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 546,537. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $95.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.96. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $104.63. The company has a market cap of $71.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,407,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $760,000. Rempart Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 225,823 shares of the bank's stock valued at $21,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. 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 worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank's stock valued at $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company's stock.

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.