Head-To-Head Survey: Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) and MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG)

MidWestOne Financial Group (NASDAQ:MOFG) and Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

65.4% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.8% of Bank Of Montreal shares are held by institutional investors. 2.5% of MidWestOne Financial Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Bank Of Montreal shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares MidWestOne Financial Group and Bank Of Montreal”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
MidWestOne Financial Group	$238.84 million	4.26	-$60.29 million	$2.81	17.55
Bank Of Montreal	$55.92 billion	2.18	$6.22 billion	$8.86	19.76

Bank Of Montreal has higher revenue and earnings than MidWestOne Financial Group. MidWestOne Financial Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Bank Of Montreal, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

MidWestOne Financial Group has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank Of Montreal has a beta of 0.93, suggesting that its share price is 7% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

MidWestOne Financial Group pays an annual dividend of $0.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Bank Of Montreal pays an annual dividend of $4.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. MidWestOne Financial Group pays out 34.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank Of Montreal pays out 54.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Bank Of Montreal has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Bank Of Montreal is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares MidWestOne Financial Group and Bank Of Montreal’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
MidWestOne Financial Group	16.66%	10.22%	0.96%
Bank Of Montreal	11.72%	13.60%	0.71%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations for MidWestOne Financial Group and Bank Of Montreal, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
MidWestOne Financial Group	0	2	1	0	2.33
Bank Of Montreal	1	6	5	0	2.33

MidWestOne Financial Group presently has a consensus target price of $50.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.40%. Bank Of Montreal has a consensus target price of $163.00, suggesting a potential downside of 6.91%. Given MidWestOne Financial Group’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe MidWestOne Financial Group is more favorable than Bank Of Montreal.

About MidWestOne Financial Group

MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for MidWestOne Bank that provides commercial and retail banking products and services to individuals, businesses, governmental units, and institutional customers. It offers range of deposit products, including noninterest bearing and interest bearing demand deposits, savings, money market, and time deposits accounts. The company also provides commercial, real estate, agricultural, credit card, and consumer loans; and financing arrangements, such as brokered deposits, term debt, subordinated debt, and equity. In addition, it offers trust and investment services comprising administering estates, trusts, and conservatorships; property and farm management, investment advisory, retail securities brokerage, financial planning, and custodial services; and licensed brokers services. Further, the company provides online and mobile banking, debit cards, automated teller machines, and safe deposit boxes. MidWestOne Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa.

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. It also offers investing, banking, and wealth management advisory; digital investing services; financial solutions for individuals, families, and businesses; provides investment management services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors; and diversified insurance, and wealth and pension de-risking solutions. In addition, the company provides individual life, critical illness and annuity products, as well as segregated funds, and group creditor and travel insurance to customers; debt and equity capital-raising, loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, treasury management, mergers and acquisitions advice, restructurings and recapitalizations, trade finance, and risk mitigation services, as well as a range of banking and other operating services. Further, the company offers research and access to financial markets for institutional, corporate and retail clients through an integrated suite of sales and trading solutions related to debt, foreign exchange, interest rates, credit, equities, securitization, and commodities; provides new product development and origination services, as well as risk management and advisory services for hedging strategies, including in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and commodities prices; and funding and liquidity management services. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada.