Desjardins Predicts Stronger Earnings for Bank of Montreal

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) – Desjardins upped their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Bank of Montreal in a report released on Tuesday, February 25th. Desjardins analyst D. Young now expects that the bank will post earnings per share of $8.05 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $7.74. The consensus estimate for Bank of Montreal’s current full-year earnings is $7.71 per share.

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

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:BMO opened at $103.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.76, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $9.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last 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 issued a $1.1094 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.31%. Bank of Montreal’s payout ratio is 63.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Bank of Montreal

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