Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $1.12

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 28th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 29th will be given a dividend of 1.1172 per share by the bank on Tuesday, May 28th. This represents a $4.47 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11.

Bank of Montreal has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.0% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Bank of Montreal has a payout ratio of 48.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Bank of Montreal to earn $10.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.39 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.9%.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $92.84 on Thursday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $94.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The bank reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.24 by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.34 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.89% and a net margin of 7.40%. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Bank of Montreal in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.00.

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.