Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) – Equities researchers at National Bank Financial cut their Q1 2019 earnings per share estimates for Bank of Montreal in a report issued on Monday, February 18th. National Bank Financial analyst G. Dechaine now anticipates that the bank will post earnings of $2.25 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.27. National Bank Financial currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $114.00 target price on the stock. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal’s Q3 2019 earnings at $2.55 EPS and FY2019 earnings at $9.50 EPS.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, December 4th. The bank reported C$2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of C$2.30 by C$0.02. The company had revenue of C$5.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$5.74 billion.

BMO has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$110.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, November 16th. Canaccord Genuity dropped their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from C$118.00 to C$111.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 22nd. TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from C$120.00 to C$110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 5th. Eight Capital downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from C$124.00 to C$117.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 5th. Finally, Cormark downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from C$115.00 to C$109.00 in a report on Thursday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$111.18.

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at C$98.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.64 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of C$86.25 and a fifty-two week high of C$109.00.

In other news, Director Craig Wyeth Broderick acquired 1,130 shares of Bank of Montreal stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$68.37 per share, with a total value of C$77,258.10. Also, Director Ron Farmer acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$89.35 per share, for a total transaction of C$89,350.00. Insiders purchased 3,130 shares of company stock valued at $254,528 in the last three months.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 1st will be paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 31st. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.96. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.96%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. It operates through three groups: Personal and Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, and BMO Capital Markets. The company’s personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, and specialized banking programs for small business and commercial banking customers, as well as wealth management products and services, such as insurance products.