Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday.

BMO has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank upgraded 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $128.40.

Bank of Montreal Trading Down 0.3 %

Bank of Montreal stock opened at $102.71 on Friday. Bank of Montreal has a 52-week low of $76.98 and a 52-week high of $106.00. The company has a market cap of $74.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.12.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The bank reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Bank of Montreal will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Tuesday, April 29th. This represents a $4.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,494,749 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,960,491,000 after buying an additional 576,744 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Bank of Montreal by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,615,141 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,709,215,000 after purchasing an additional 486,984 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 12,833,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,244,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,712 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Bank of Montreal by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 12,215,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,184,636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630,962 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth $1,014,633,000. 45.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.