Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for BMO FY2025 Earnings

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO - Equities research analysts at National Bank Financial lifted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Bank of Montreal in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, February 25th. National Bank Financial analyst G. Dechaine now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $8.18 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $7.77. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal's current full-year earnings is $7.71 per share.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

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

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of BMO traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $101.75. 603,493 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 620,267. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.58, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The business's 50-day moving average price is $99.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.24.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,494,749 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,960,491,000 after acquiring an additional 576,744 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,615,141 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,709,215,000 after purchasing an additional 486,984 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,833,065 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,244,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,712 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at $1,014,633,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.83%.

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.