Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) to Issue $1.11 Quarterly Dividend

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of 1.1094 per share by the bank on Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th.

Bank of Montreal has increased its dividend by an average of 13.0% per year over the last three years. Bank of Montreal has a dividend payout ratio of 49.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Bank of Montreal to earn $9.02 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.49 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 49.8%.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $104.05 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business’s 50 day moving average is $98.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.76. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of $76.98 and a 52 week high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $75.84 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The business’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BMO has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC raised Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

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.