Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $119.75.

Several analysts recently commented on BMO shares. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 3,375.0% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 417 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 39.0% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 463 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:BMO opened at $82.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $73.98 and a fifty-two week high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.03.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.58%.

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.