Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Cut to “Hold” at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) from an outperformer rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce currently has C$272.00 price target on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price target of C$244.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$205.00 to C$230.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$230.00 to C$260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. National Bank Financial upped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$236.00 to C$278.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$233.50 to C$268.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$242.00 to C$265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$249.00.

Bank of Montreal Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of TSE BMO opened at C$240.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of C$168.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.22. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of C$156.65 and a 12 month high of C$259.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$249.80 and a 200-day moving average of C$219.50.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The bank reported C$3.67 earnings per share for the quarter. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.25% and a net margin of 12.63%.The business had revenue of C$9.57 billion for the quarter. Analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 9.6514585 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.71 per share. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $6.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 30th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 50.69%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director William Darryl White sold 27,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of C$225.74, for a total value of C$6,132,678.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 87,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$19,676,852.84. The trade was a 23.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Mona Elizabeth Malone sold 4,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$244.61, for a total transaction of C$1,104,903.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,758 shares in the company, valued at C$430,024.38. This trade represents a 71.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 45,004 shares of company stock valued at $10,339,904. 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.