Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) Cut to “Sector Perform” at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has C$118.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price objective of C$124.00.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on BMO. Barclays cut their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$140.00 to C$132.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price target on Bank of Montreal from C$140.00 to C$136.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Cormark dropped their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$141.00 to C$133.00 in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Bank of Montreal from C$136.00 to C$142.00 in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Bank of Montreal from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of C$130.93.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at C$112.02 on Tuesday. Bank of Montreal has a 1-year low of C$102.67 and a 1-year high of C$133.95. The stock has a market cap of C$81.26 billion, a PE ratio of 15.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$117.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$124.10.

Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO) (NYSE:BMO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The bank reported C$2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.74 by C($0.15). Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 17.71% and a return on equity of 7.28%. The business had revenue of C$7.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$8.06 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 11.2532189 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 27th will be issued a dividend of $1.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 30th. This represents a $6.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.53%. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.51. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 82.85%.

Bank of Montreal Company Profile

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.