Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Raised to "Hold" at StockNews.com

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

NYSE BMO traded down $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $100.95. The company had a trading volume of 376,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 612,774. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The firm has a market cap of $73.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.12.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth 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 grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Bank of Montreal during the third quarter valued at $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.