Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO - Get Free Report) NYSE: BMO have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$131.33.

Several brokerages have recently commented on BMO. TD Securities upped their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$114.00 to C$131.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$143.00 to C$148.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Desjardins lowered their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from C$134.00 to C$117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

BMO traded down C$0.36 during trading hours on Monday, reaching C$140.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,719,271 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,901,219. The stock has a market cap of C$102.58 billion, a PE ratio of 16.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of C$109.02 and a fifty-two week high of C$147.54. The business's 50-day moving average is C$131.28 and its 200-day moving average is C$122.20.

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 given a $1.59 dividend. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal's previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio is 71.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Also, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$140.79, for a total value of C$1,601,592.91. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company 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.