Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $117.00 price target on the bank’s stock, down from their prior price target of $134.00.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $137.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, June 3rd. TD Securities lowered Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Bank of Montreal from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank cut shares of Bank of Montreal from a sector outperform rating to a sector perform rating and cut their price target for the company from $123.00 to $112.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Bank of Montreal from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $119.75.

Bank of Montreal Price Performance

Shares of Bank of Montreal stock opened at $81.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.12. Bank of Montreal has a one year low of $73.98 and a one year high of $100.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.80.

Bank of Montreal (NYSE:BMO) (TSE:BMO) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The bank reported $2.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.76 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $8.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.25 billion. Bank of Montreal had a return on equity of 11.60% and a net margin of 8.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Bank of Montreal will post 7.91 EPS for the current year.

Bank of Montreal Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $1.123 per share. This represents a $4.49 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of Montreal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.25%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BMO. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Bank of Montreal by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 12,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,238,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Bank of Montreal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Bank of Montreal by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,370 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $10,844,000 after buying an additional 9,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Bank of Montreal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $381,000. 45.82% of the stock is currently owned by 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.