National Bankshares Reiterates C$173.00 Price Target for Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO)

National Bankshares set a C$173.00 price objective on Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) in a report issued on Monday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on BMO. Barclays boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$150.00 to C$157.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$164.00 to C$173.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$159.00 to C$176.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$180.00 to C$185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$167.42.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of TSE BMO opened at C$178.45 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of C$127.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$163.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$148.83. Bank of Montreal has a 52 week low of C$120.42 and a 52 week high of C$181.44.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 26th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 30th. This is an increase from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.59. This represents a $6.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Alan Tannenbaum sold 9,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$175.12, for a total transaction of C$1,720,408.35. Also, insider Steven Lloyd Tennyson sold 9,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$163.89, for a total value of C$1,486,782.86. Following the transaction, the insider owned 21,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$3,583,553.14. This trade represents a 29.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 35,883 shares of company stock valued at $5,989,740 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.