Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Upgraded at Scotiabank

Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sector perform rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lowered their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 3.8 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $103.39 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.81, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. 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 dividend yield of 4.38%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 454.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 14,076 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 171.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 6,261 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 4.4% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.8% during the second quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 13,769 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 1.2% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 20,965 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently 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.