Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.59 Per Share

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be given a dividend of 1.59 per share by the bank on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $6.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.55.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

BMO stock opened at C$144.90 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is C$138.82 and its 200-day moving average price is C$126.71. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of C$109.02 and a one year high of C$147.54. The company has a market capitalization of C$105.69 billion, a PE ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on BMO. CIBC raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from C$134.00 to C$150.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. National Bankshares lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$127.00 to C$148.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from C$147.00 to C$160.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$114.00 to C$131.00 in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$135.92.

Insider Activity at Bank of Montreal

In related news, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of the business’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 value of C$1,601,592.91. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Bank of Montreal

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.