Analysts Set Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Price Target at C$135.92

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$135.92.

BMO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bankshares increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$147.00 to C$160.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Bank of Montreal from C$143.00 to C$148.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from C$133.00 to C$161.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.1 %

BMO opened at C$142.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of C$103.70 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$140.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$128.57. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of C$109.02 and a 1-year high of C$147.54.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $1.59 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 71.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.