Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Stock

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $161.00 to $163.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the bank’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 58.20% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on BMO. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $103.03 on Wednesday. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $99.09 and its 200 day moving average is $93.82. The stock has a market cap of $75.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.56 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,014,633,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,449,000 after purchasing an additional 3,074,389 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $664,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,862 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after acquiring an additional 1,534,508 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.