Desjardins Lowers Earnings Estimates for Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Free Report) TSE: BMO - Stock analysts at Desjardins lowered their FY2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Bank of Montreal in a report issued on Friday, November 1st. Desjardins analyst D. Young now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $7.26 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $7.62. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal's current full-year earnings is $8.06 per share. Desjardins also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal's Q4 2024 earnings at $1.66 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.78 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. TD Securities cut Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Scotiabank cut Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $90.06. 990,912 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 906,113. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.83 and a one year high of $100.12. The company has a market capitalization of $65.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 8.50% and a return on equity of 11.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,429 shares of the bank's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,022 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,467,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 1st quarter valued at $542,000. Gold Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 22,145 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,163,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 317.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 29,543 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,886,000 after acquiring an additional 22,463 shares in the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 72.13%.

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.