Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Upgraded at Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $133.00 target price (up from $106.00) on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO opened at $103.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $93.33 and its 200-day moving average is $88.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $104.63. The firm has a market cap of $75.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is presently 65.62%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 29,367 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.1% during the second quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC now owns 1,411,695 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $118,371,000 after purchasing an additional 14,809 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 72.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 588,209 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,082,000 after purchasing an additional 248,098 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 3,403,431 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,789,000 after purchasing an additional 69,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,298,627 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,326,000 after buying an additional 60,155 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.