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

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

BMO has been the subject of several other reports. 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. CIBC lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

NYSE:BMO opened at $89.27 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.15. The firm has a market cap of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $76.98 and a one year high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.56 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. North Star Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. North Star Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,422 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its position in Bank of Montreal by 2.1% during the third quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 5,142 shares of the bank’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,865 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $278,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $617,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.