Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

BMO has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $128.40.

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Bank of Montreal Stock Down 3.0 %

Bank of Montreal stock traded down $2.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $88.95. The stock had a trading volume of 518,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 862,599. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.18. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00. The stock has a market cap of $64.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 708,767 shares of the bank's stock worth $68,786,000 after buying an additional 40,135 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 194,218 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,855,000 after acquiring an additional 14,351 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,913,716 shares of the bank's stock worth $185,694,000 after purchasing an additional 64,799 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the bank's stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 1,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 478,191 shares of the bank's stock worth $46,399,000 after purchasing an additional 12,052 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.