Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Raised to “Sector Outperform” at CIBC

CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a neutral rating to a sector outperform rating in a research note released on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports.

BMO has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday. TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 3.8 %

BMO stock opened at $103.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $75.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of $76.98 and a 1-year high of $104.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $93.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $1.1329 per share. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 30th. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.13%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after buying an additional 3,074,389 shares during the last quarter. 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. Toronto Dominion Bank grew 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 worth $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 36.9% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 5,239,662 shares of the bank’s stock worth $439,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412,532 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the second quarter valued at $80,915,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.