Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Cut to “Hold” at Cibc World Mkts

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

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

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO stock opened at $89.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.15. Bank of Montreal has a 12 month low of $76.98 and a 12 month high of $106.00.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The firm had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.56 EPS. Analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 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 BMO. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 47.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter valued at $357,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,122 shares of the bank’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.4% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 146,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,190,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 80.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 125,572 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $11,344,000 after buying an additional 55,823 shares during 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.