Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Stock

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) had its price objective boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from C$140.00 to C$155.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

BMO has been the topic of a number of other research reports. National Bankshares raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$153.00 to C$161.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$147.00 to C$155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$150.00 to C$146.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$161.00 to C$163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. Six equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$149.31.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

TSE BMO opened at C$148.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$107.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$142.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$131.15. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of C$109.02 and a 1 year high of C$151.08.

Bank of Montreal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.59 per share. This represents a $6.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.20%.

Insider Transactions at Bank of Montreal

In related news, Director William Darryl White sold 11,376 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$140.79, for a total transaction of C$1,601,592.91. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.