Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Increases Dividend to $1.59 Per Share

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO - Get Free Report) NYSE: BMO declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a dividend of 1.59 per share by the bank on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.55%. This is a boost from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO traded up C$5.58 during trading on Thursday, hitting C$139.73. The stock had a trading volume of 7,147,915 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,921,103. The firm has a market cap of C$101.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$128.03 and a 200-day moving average price of C$121.47. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of C$109.02 and a one year high of C$140.33.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BMO shares. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from C$134.00 to C$117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. CIBC boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$120.00 to C$134.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$143.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$141.00 to C$124.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$114.00 to C$131.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$128.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Bank of Montreal news, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$121.85, for a total transaction of C$1,562,007.97. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.