Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Cibc World Mkts

Cibc World Mkts lowered shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on BMO. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, CIBC lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $89.27 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The company has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.28. 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 (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 10.18% and a net margin of 9.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a $1.1094 dividend. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 57.09%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% during the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 45.82% of the company’s stock.

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.