Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Receives C$124.69 Average PT from Analysts

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$128.50.

Several research firms have weighed in on BMO. National Bankshares raised their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$112.00 to C$147.00 in a research note on Monday. Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$125.00 to C$120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$141.00 to C$124.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from C$134.00 to C$117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO stock opened at C$133.21 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of C$97.16 billion, a PE ratio of 15.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$126.86 and its 200-day moving average price is C$121.33. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of C$107.16 and a one year high of C$134.16.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported C$2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$2.72 by C($0.08). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 21.20% and a return on equity of 8.49%. The company had revenue of C$8.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$8.23 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 71.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Senior Officer Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 7,908 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$112.16, for a total transaction of C$886,977.10. Also, Senior Officer David Robert Casper sold 12,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. 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.