Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Raised to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $161.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of $133.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $97.58 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $90.17. Bank of Montreal has a 12-month low of $76.98 and a 12-month high of $104.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market cap of $71.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.98, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 6.8% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 7,312,320 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $613,138,000 after buying an additional 463,924 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 36.9% in the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $439,705,000 after buying an additional 1,412,532 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,046,721 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $455,397,000 after acquiring an additional 625,797 shares during the period. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 138.4% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 4,851,629 shares of the bank’s stock worth $407,282,000 after acquiring an additional 2,816,385 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.