Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$149.00.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank cut their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$160.00 to C$159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$154.00 to C$165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$140.00 to C$155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. National Bankshares upped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$153.00 to C$161.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$145.00 to C$152.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$140.79, for a total transaction of C$1,601,592.91. Also, Senior Officer Nadim Hirji sold 3,238 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of C$148.87, for a total value of C$482,024.87. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at C$142.60 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of C$109.02 and a 1 year high of C$151.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of C$142.73 and a 200-day moving average price of C$132.13. The company has a market cap of C$103.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16.

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.20%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal is a diversified financial-services provider based in North America, operating four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, U.S. P&C banking, wealth management, and capital markets.