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

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) declared 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 is Friday, April 26th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.11.

Bank of Montreal has increased its dividend payment by an average of 11.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $67.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.13. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $73.98 and a 52-week high of $100.12. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.07.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Bank of Montreal in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.