Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Price Target Raised to $163.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $161.00 to $163.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BMO. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $102.71 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $99.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.97. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.