Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Lowered to Neutral Rating by CIBC

CIBC cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on BMO. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank raised Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $128.40.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock traded up $3.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $90.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 418,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 859,536. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $98.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.19. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

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

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.