Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Lowered to “Neutral” Rating by CIBC

CIBC cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of 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, 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 7.1 %

BMO stock opened at $89.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.15. Bank of Montreal has a twelve month low of $76.98 and a twelve month high of $106.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.79, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.95. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $1.36. Bank of Montreal had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.56 EPS. Bank of Montreal’s revenue was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.97%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC raised its stake in Bank of Montreal by 282.8% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 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.