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

CIBC cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Cibc World Mkts raised Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank raised shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $161.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Bank of Montreal from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of BMO opened at $89.27 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a fifty-two week low of $76.98 and a fifty-two week high of $106.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.15. The stock has a market cap 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 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 posted its quarterly 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 29th will be given a dividend of $1.1094 per share. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is currently 57.09%.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in 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 shares of 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 during the period. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.