Analysts Set Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Price Target at $119.75

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $119.75.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on BMO shares. TD Securities cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $93.55 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $74.48 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 76.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the second quarter worth approximately $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 34.6% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 451 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% 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.