FY2025 EPS Estimate for Bank of Montreal Boosted by Analyst

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) – Equities researchers at Cormark upped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Bank of Montreal in a report released on Wednesday, February 26th. Cormark analyst L. Persaud now forecasts that the bank will post earnings of $8.27 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $7.71. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current full-year earnings is $7.71 per share. Cormark also issued estimates for Bank of Montreal’s FY2026 earnings at $9.38 EPS.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on BMO. CIBC upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BMO opened at $103.03 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $106.00. The firm has a market cap of $75.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.82. 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 (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $1.36. The company had revenue of $9.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in BMO. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,014,633,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Bank of Montreal by 261.6% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 4,249,552 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,449,000 after acquiring an additional 3,074,389 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,838,171 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $664,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,044,862 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,962 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Bank of Montreal by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 11,812,353 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,065,474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.