Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 34.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 623 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 207.8% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the bank's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $92.77. The company had a trading volume of 868,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 886,007. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $88.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.18. The company has a market capitalization of $67.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO - Get Free Report) TSE: BMO last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The business had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal's payout ratio is 76.08%.

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.