Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $119.75.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America downgraded Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $134.00 to $117.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Scotiabank lowered Bank of Montreal from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Bank of Montreal from $132.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th.

Institutional Trading of Bank of Montreal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2,701.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 30,454 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after buying an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Bank of Montreal by 58.3% in the third quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 20,118 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after acquiring an additional 7,411 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 244.1% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 554 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 181,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,405,000 after purchasing an additional 30,300 shares during the period. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 1,739 shares of the bank’s stock worth $157,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. 45.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Bank of Montreal Stock Performance

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $92.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.66 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $88.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $88.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.23% and a net margin of 8.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Bank of Montreal will post 8.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a $1.123 dividend. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.08%.

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.