Analysts Set Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Target Price at C$131.33

Shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$131.33.

A number of brokerages have commented on BMO. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from C$147.00 to C$160.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$118.00 to C$106.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. National Bankshares upped their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$114.00 to C$131.00 in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$134.00 to C$150.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Bank of Montreal news, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$121.85, for a total value of C$1,562,007.97. Also, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$140.79, for a total transaction of C$1,601,592.91. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.5 %

TSE:BMO opened at C$138.34 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$131.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$122.33. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of C$109.02 and a twelve month high of C$147.54. The firm has a market capitalization of C$100.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.92, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16.

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 paid a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.60%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 71.35%.

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.