Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Downgraded to Sector Perform at Scotiabank

Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $112.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $123.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Desjardins downgraded Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Bank of Montreal in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. They set a neutral rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $83.62 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $84.68 and a 200-day moving average of $89.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.89, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $73.98 and a 12 month high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. The company had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is 74.58%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 300,456.3% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 105,510,305 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,439,190,000 after purchasing an additional 105,475,200 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,617,952 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,795,402,000 after buying an additional 544,767 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 19,225,705 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,911,635,000 after acquiring an additional 3,187,998 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 4.9% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,761,836 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,231,564,000 after acquiring an additional 692,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 138.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 9,872,642 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $976,870,000 after purchasing an additional 5,729,145 shares during the period. 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.