Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on BMO. 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. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. CIBC upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $161.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Bank of Montreal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.00.

Bank of Montreal Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $100.91 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $73.55 billion, a PE ratio of 14.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.07. Bank of Montreal has a 1 year low of $76.98 and a 1 year high of $104.63.

Bank of Montreal Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 30th will be paid a $1.1329 dividend. This is a positive change from Bank of Montreal’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.12. This represents a $4.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.32%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BMO. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Bank of Montreal by 179.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal in the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.