Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$120.77.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BMO shares. Cormark reduced their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$129.00 to C$118.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group set a C$122.00 target price on Bank of Montreal and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Desjardins reduced their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. CIBC increased their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$116.00 to C$120.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from C$123.00 to C$112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of BMO stock opened at C$128.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of C$94.06 billion, a PE ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of C$119.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$120.96. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of C$102.67 and a 52-week high of C$133.95.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported C$2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.72 by C($0.08). The business had revenue of C$8.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$8.23 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 8.49% and a net margin of 21.20%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $1.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.81%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Senior Officer Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 7,908 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$112.16, for a total value of C$886,977.10. In related news, Senior Officer Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 7,908 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$112.16, for a total value of C$886,977.10. Also, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the 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 value of C$1,562,007.97. Company insiders own 0.03% 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.